The Pregnant Days
by T.M.K.06
Summary: Sequel to The Present Days. Cuddy is pregnant, House has a daughter and now they need to muddle through somehow. Mild Huddy but more friendship than romance, but getting heavier once the pregnancy is over. First chapter contains a sort of summary.
1. Previously on House: the Present Days

**Previously on House: the Present Days**

This is the sequel to my story _The Present Days_. I recommend that you read that first (if you already have, you can skip this and go to the first chapter of the real story), but in case you don't want to do that, here is a recap of some relevant things that took place there:

After a phone call House disappeared for a couple of weeks to Japan and when he returned he had a child with him. On his return he saw Cuddy in her office and gave her an explanation:

"_But back to the story," House sighed. "When I was fourteen my father was stationed in Japan. While there I met this doctor, who really inspired me to become a doctor myself. He was the go-to-guy. When no other doctor knew what was wrong with the patient they called on him. The thing was that that was the only time they did go to him. Other times they ignored, ostracized him because he was a hinin, a buraku – one of the untouchables. Once I finished medical school I went back to Japan for a year. I was not licensed to practice there, naturally, so I got a job in the morgue of the hospital where he worked. I spent a year doing autopsies under his supervision, finding out what really had killed the patients. He was my mentor. Once I came back, we didn't really keep in touch, just enough to make sure that if needed we could reach each other. He was the one who phoned me."_

_Cuddy was listening to House in absolute silence, she barely dared to breath. House rubbed his temple and went on explaining._

"_His son and daughter-in-law were in an accident. They had been on their way to the hospital because Noriko's contractions had started. They were hit by a drunk-driver. The son died instantly, but Noriko was still alive when she was brought in. She didn't survive but they managed to save the baby. Noriko's parents had disowned her for marrying a buraku and as Benjiro was an only child Akira was left with the baby. He is not young anymore and his wife passed away two years ago, taking care of a baby would not have been easy, nor could he be sure for how long he would be around for her. Also he wanted something better for his granddaughter than what she was likely to have in Japan – even with the recent improvements on the status of burakus. He called me because I'm the only one who could help him, the only one he could ask."_

"_Who in his right mind would give you a child?" Cuddy stared._

"_Hey, I'm not that bad!" House pretended to be insulted. "I'm a doctor, I have a steady job, I have friends and family – at least on paper I have – and frankly, I may suck as an option, but not as badly as the other one she had."_

House adopted the child and thus he now has a daughter, Aiko. He asked Cuddy to help and in return, one night in his apartment, he also offered to help Cuddy:

"_I'm not being disgusting," House huffed. Then he got serious. "Look Cuddy, I have now had Aiko for fifteen days. I didn't have time to want her or not want her before she was mine. I didn't have a choice. But I will kill anyone who tries to take her away from me now. So I can understand your yearning for a child now, at least a little. I know we are not friends in any conventional sense of the word, but conventional or normal has never quite worked for me anyway. In an unconventional but still a very real sense, we are fri__ends. So as a friend I'm asking that as you are ovulating now do you want to do something about it?"_

_Cuddy stared at him trying to process what he had just said. "I'm not sure I'm ovulating," she finally told him trying to make some sense out of this strange conversation. "I know it's about the time I should be, but since I gave up trying to conceive, I haven't monitored it. I haven't taken my temperature, nor have I done the test."_

"_Then you just have to trust me: you are ovulating," House told her. "You don't tear up in front of me if you can help it, unless there is a hormonal reason for it."_

"_Maybe I am," Cuddy shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. I gave up on that dream."_

"_Why?" House asked. "Just because you miscarried once, is no reason to think you were never meant to be a mother. Yes, you don't have a lot of time before your biological clock ticks time out, but you can still give yourself at least another chance. Even if you don't want to accept my offer, don't let fear rob you off your dream. Afraid is not you!"_

"_Oh, that is where you are wrong, House," Cuddy smiled sadly. "Afraid is very me. That is why I have a career but no life. I would have thought, you of all people, would have recognised that."_

"_But even though you focused on your career, you eventually tackled the life issue, too," House pointed out. "And on your own; you didn't wait till you were lucky enough to have someone hand it to you. You did something to get what you wanted. Maybe I didn't completely agree with the way you chose to find a father for your child, but you went after what you wanted. Are you chickening out before you have even properly started?"_

"_I don't know," Cuddy sighed. "When you put it like that, I suppose I gave up too easily. But the treatments are rough."_

"_I'm offering you an alternative to them," House reminded her. "If you cannot stomach the idea of having me in your bed – or actually it would be my bed, but you get the idea – then I'm sure Wilson left a turkey paster in the kitchen somewhere. Mind you, I'd much rather wield my own than his!" The last sentence House said wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively._

In the end they did it the "natural" way and Cuddy ended up pregnant; in fact she ended up very pregnant. After having had her first ultrasound she stormed into House's office with the picture:

"_What is going on?" Blythe had just walked in and naturally wondered what Lisa was yelling about, though she was not surprised to find her yelling at House. Greg seemed to have a knack for getting people to yell at him. Cuddy turned to look at Blythe._

"_Your son knocked me up with triplets!" Cuddy cried in distress. _

_The effect of her words was immediate. Wilson, who had taken the picture and was preparing to sit down to examine it, missed his chair and found himself on the floor, Chase rocked his chair too far and ended up on the floor as well. Foreman had just poured himself a mug of coffee and he missed with the pan and it ended up on the floor broken and splashing his trousers with hot coffee. Cameron dropped the file she had in her hand and stood at the white board like a deer caught in headlights. With deep satisfaction House surveyed the havoc Cuddy's statement had created and he said: "Way to go Cuddy!"_

_Blythe was the only one unaffected, besides House. She walked to Cuddy, took her in her arms and said: "Oh, Lisa my dear," then Blythe turned an accusing – if slightly twinkling – eye to House and admonished: "Gregory, how could you!"_

House's mother, Blythe, is separated from her husband and thinking of divorcing him. She found out about the abuse her son had been subjected to as a child and could no longer stay with her husband:

"_What is it, Mother?" House asked as he took Blythe to sit on the couch._

"_I had an argument with your father," Blythe revealed. "And the end result was that I told him to go home."_

"_Alone?" House questioned carefully._

"_Yes, alone," Blythe confirmed. "I'm not sure what else will happen now, but I could not have him near me now."_

"_What was the argument about?" House asked, though he had a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him that he already knew._

"_Well we started with Aiko, of course," Blythe sighed. "I truly cannot see what his problem is with her, but he has one. Anyway, that is irrelevant now. We didn't stop there. He finally told me what had happened between you two during the three weeks I was with my mother when she was ill. I'm sorry Greg. I should have known, I should have seen."_

"_How? If neither one of us told you anything how were you supposed to know," House told her. "You're not clairvoyant; you don't read minds, though sometimes I suspect that you do. If I didn't tell you about the baths and sleeping out, how were you supposed to know?"_

"_He should have told me," Blythe said. "He behaved like what he had done was just normal. Just part of bringing up a boy. That it was something all boys needed. But if it was that normal; that much of no big deal, why did I hear of it now! Why not when it happened? Why, if that was what he was planning to do, didn't he talk it over with me before I left? He must have known he was wrong. He must have known it was not right thing to do. You were a child! I could, maybe, understand his actions had you been a teenager. Once you had taken a proper interest in sports it could have made sense to toughen you up as he put it. But not when you were a child."_

"_I'm sorry mother," House didn't know what else to say._

"_You have nothing to be sorry about," Blythe caressed his cheek. "I saw how you had changed, but I thought it was because you felt I had abandoned you. And I had, hadn't I? Then when we found out that you had pneumonia, I thought all your listlessness had been because of that. And that's another thing; __**how**__ could your father have forgotten that you ended up in hospital with pneumonia! But even when that had cleared up, you were changed. And I didn't really see it. I'm your mother! And I didn't see. I thought you had changed because of the illness; that you had grown out of your childhood. And though I was right about that, I should have seen why! I should have seen then, what I see now: how you avoided your father ever since; how you never wanted to be alone with him again. How you actually feared him till you grew old enough to stand up for yourself."_

"_He's my Father," House pointed out. "How could you suspect him of anything? It wasn't like he had given you any reason to before, or even since. You didn't abandon me; you left me with my father, you husband the one person you __**should**__ have been able to trust with anything."_

"_I told John off today, for thinking that he is always right though he often isn't," Blythe gave a rueful, almost bitter laugh. "I pride myself of being a judge of people; of being able to tell almost instantly if they are lying. The Fates must really be laughing their heads of right now."_

Finding himself with unexpected responsibilities, House got a Nanny for his daughter, a physical therapist for himself (for pain management) and a house big enough for his family:

_Cuddy looked at the house. It was huge but it was in proportion. It did not look cumbersome or contrived. Though the main part of the house was two stories high, the ground floor seemed to be L-shaped and the part that faced the other street was on one floor. There was a huge Japanese Chestnut tree on the front lawn seemingly sheltering the entrance to the house. It was difficult to say for sure from the front but Cuddy thought that the house probably had a fenced back yard. The neighbourhood, the yard, the tree were perfect for Aiko, but what in the name of all that was holy was House going to do with such an enormous house! _

"_Are you out of your mind House?" Cuddy wondered out loud._

"_Probably," House agreed with her. "In fact I'm probably a whole lot more out of my mind than you can even guess right now. But reserve your judgement till the end of this tour, because regardless of my mental state I still want your opinion of this property."_

"_Fine, I'll look it over for you, but I will be very, and I mean very surprised if I end up recommending the purchase to you." Cuddy shook his head._

_They toured the house. The real estate agent told them that it had been recently remodelled to operate as a bed and breakfast place. For that reason it had also been made handicap accessible with a lift to the second floor. Upstairs they found six bedrooms, two big ones at each end of the corridor both with en suite bathrooms and four smaller ones in between with two shared bathrooms. Downstairs they found one more bedroom with toilet and a shower near it though not en suite. Most part of ground floor was taken up by the living room, dining room and kitchen which also had room for a small breakfast corner. Through the kitchen there was access to a small self-contained flat obviously meant for a housekeeper or a cook. The flat had a spacious bedroom, nice living room and a very small kitchen, mostly meant for making breakfast or evening snacks. From the main part of the house it was also possible to descend to the basement where they found a small gym, a steam room with showers and a Jacuzzi. _

_Once they had toured the main house they went through the living room to the side entrance which lead to the annex or granny-flat as the agent called it. It was obviously the part of the property where the owners had intended to live. The annex was a two bedroom flat with a spacious living room that had a window alcove big enough to serve as a small dining area. The kitchen was not very big but well fitted. The flat had its own front door which gave to the other street. Outside they did indeed find a fenced back yard suitable for children and dogs._

_When the tour was over the estate agent left them alone saying she would be back in half an hour to get the key but that till then they could have the house to themselves. _

_--------_

"_Do you have a plan for taking care of the triplets while you work?" House asked Cuddy._

"_Well, I'm only just getting used to the idea of having them so I haven't really given it much thought. Why?" _

"_When we assumed that you were going to have only one baby, I had no intention of being closely involved in his or her life," House revealed. "Sure I meant it when I said that I would help, but you would have been the child's only parent. I would have been more like an uncle or something. But now there are three of them and the situation is different. I really need to be more involved because you really need the help. That also means that Aiko will be even closer to them than originally planned. If we are going to co-parent the kids, we need to be closer to each other. And I mean that literally. No way can it work if we both live where we live now. Besides, even though you do own your house it is not big enough for three kids."_

"_Are you asking me to live with you?" Cuddy wasn't sure how she felt about that possibility._

"_Hell no!" House replied instantly. "Even if we were madly in love with each other we couldn't live together. Not you and I. We are too different in many ways and way too similar in some other. If we lived together one of us would murder the other within six months if not sooner."_

"_Then what are you talking about," Cuddy was puzzled._

"_I would like for you to move into this house," House said._

"_How would that help?" Cuddy didn't feel particularly enlightened. "If you stay where you are living now, we will be even further away from each other than we are now and if you move to live in here as well then how is it different from living together?"_

"_I was thinking of moving into the granny flat," House stated._

"_I see," Cuddy said to win time to think because she surely did not see._

"_Yeah, I know, a most unconventional solution," House squirmed a little. "See, the idea I have is that you, Kasumii and the kids would take over the upper floor, mother would live in the housekeepers flat – or if she doesn't end up divorcing Dad then we get a housekeeper. I will live in the granny flat and the ground floor is common ground. That way I have my own space, you have your own space and when we cannot stand each other we can retreat into our corners. I know it would not be easy, but I cannot see how else we could be parents to the kids."_

"_So we would be parents to the kids," Cuddy repeated. "What about us? What would we be to each other?"_

"_Friends?" House suggested. "At least when I'm not getting too much on your last nerve."_

At the beginning of this new story House's daughter, Aiko is six months old and Cuddy is five months pregnant. They have not yet moved into the new house as it is being furnished and partly redecorated – mostly the nurseries and the granny flat. House's mother Blythe is living upstairs from her son for now, and will move in to the new house with him once it is ready. She hasn't yet made up her mind about divorce, but she is definitely staying in New Jersey, as she doesn't want to be far away from her grandchildren. She is the only one who knows for sure that House got Cuddy pregnant the traditional way; others have been more or less told that House just made a donation and there was no actual sex involved. The main reason for this lie is that the hospital board is not too happy about Cuddy's pregnancy and might get difficult on her if they found out that she had had sex with one of her employees.

The new characters that were introduced to PPTH in _The Present Days_ are:

Kasumii Tanaka, Aiko's Nanny, 21 years of age, Japanese but as her mother is married to an American has dual citizenship. House treats her like she was his niece or something and he often calls her an _infant_.

David Grey, 29, House's physical therapist, an Englishman, can hold his own with House most of the time, in love with Kasumii. They are dating.

Dr. Akira Higa, Aiko's paternal grandfather, sixty something, probably 65. Lives in Japan but is expected to come and visit his granddaughter.


	2. The Mother of All Monsters

House and Wilson were having coffee with the ducklings when the phone rang. Cameron answered it and apart from identifying herself she didn't have time to say anything before the person on the other end had her say and hung up.

"What was that?" Wilson asked.

"I'm not sure," Cameron looked startled. "It was Miss Hill, she said to tell Hercules to get his butt down because Agath-something and Galen and ... and Scythes or something were making their mother cranky."

"Agathyrsus, Gelonus and Scytha?" House clarified.

"Yes, those were the names," Cameron confirmed. "That was all."

"Wilson? Care to go?" House suggested though obviously not expecting a favourable answer.

"No, no, no," Wilson declined vigorously gesturing with his hands. "I don't mind dealing with the Queen of Hearts; all she needs is a tub of frozen yogurt with everything on top and someone to listen to her ranting and in fifteen minutes or so she calms down enough to not to want everybody's heads but if it's Echidna, it's definitely your territory... Hercules."

"Coward," House accused as he got on his feet and started for the door. "When Mom and Kasumii come back with Aiko tell them I'm in Cuddy's office. If I'm not back in half an hour, send in a rescue team."

"Will do," Wilson promised as House limped out of the room.

"Echidna?" Foreman wondered.

"Greek mythology," Wilson explained. "Echidna was the Mother of all Monsters and some legends say that Hercules fathered three children with her: Agathyrsus, Gelonus and Scythes."

"Didn't Hercules defeat the Mother of all Monsters?" Chase asked.

"Well apparently there is defeat and then there is defeat," Wilson shrugged.

"While all this mythical lore is very interesting," Cameron mused – very unconvincingly, "I'd still like to know what Hercules and Echidna have to do with House?"

"Nothing really," Wilson agreed. "It's just a code to explain what mood Cuddy is in currently. Apparently something big has set her off this time since the Queen of Hearts is usually her worst mood. For the Mother of all Monsters to appear it takes something big. Or at least in Cuddy's mind it has to be big. And since it was House who got her pregnant and brought on these mood swings, he is the one who has to deal with them. Besides, he is the only one who **can** deal with Echidna, everyone else runs for cover."

------------------------

House limped his way into the ante-room of Cuddy's office. Miss Hill was waiting for him.

"About time," she told House. "I'm expecting her to start breaking things any minute now."

"What set her off?" House asked.

"Two smug idiots from the board," Miss Hill told him. "They don't know how lucky they were to escape with their lives. I could see how close Dr. Cuddy was to exploding even while she escorted them out with utmost courtesy."

"What did they want?" House queried.

"I didn't get a chance to find out, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was about her maternity leave and the new Head of the Hospital," Miss Hill mused.

"Temporary Head," House pointed out as he raised his hand to knock on the door.

"Don't knock!" Miss Hill warned him immediately.

"What?" House turned to look at her in puzzlement. "Aren't you the one who just last week forced me to come back out and enter again only after knocking on the door?"

"Yes, I am," Miss Hill nodded. "But that was a normal situation. Now it's Echidna on the other side of that door and you don't give even the slightest impression of weakness to the Mother of all Monsters. Just go in and be your normal crude, rude and socially unacceptable self."

House had to laugh. Miss Anna Hill was something else. She was 47 years old – not that she gave him any points for being a year older than her; after all, girls always mature faster than boys and she barely acknowledged that House was an adult at all (but then, there were others who had that same doubt, too). She wasn't very tall, about the same as Cuddy sans the high heels – Miss Hill favoured no heels or only very low ones – she was what most regard overweight these days, but House thought she just looked soft maybe even cuddly (and that, if anything, was a lie!). Her short hair was dark ashes with a liberal sprinkling of silver grey. Her full name was Anna Shirley Hill and she had smiled wryly when she revealed that, asking if she needed to explain anything about her mother's favourite books. House had declined the offer. Later she had told him that she had been born "strawberry blond and svelte, which just goes to show that even babies lie" – a sentence that had sealed her fate: there was no way House was going to let anyone else get the job as Cuddy's new assistant. Fortunately he did have a say in that, as Cuddy had allowed him to be in on the interviews. He had promised that if he had a say in the hiring he would not cause any firing – or quitting either. He doubted, though, that even he could make Miss Hill quit no matter what he did. She might not quite have his number, but she had her own: she knew who and what she was and one insensitive jerk was not going to rock her world one way or the other. She liked Cuddy and that was that as far as she was concerned. Because of the Trips and what they meant to Cuddy she was also willing to put up with House – and to put him in his place every once in a while, too. She was exactly what Cuddy needed.

House was still smiling as he barged into Cuddy's office ready to face the monsters. Cuddy was walking back and forth in her office muttering to herself and snapping a rubber band. House could practically see the fumes coming out of her ears. At his entrance Cuddy turned to give him a glare worthy of any Gorgon and she snapped at him just one word: "What?"

"Just one question," House stated. "Kiss or slap?"

"What?" Cuddy stopped her pacing and stared at him blankly.

"You are stressing again," House explained. "There is steam coming out of your ears and nostrils. You need to calm down. So which will snap you out of it faster: if I kiss you or if I slap you? Or if you prefer I could do spanking too."

Cuddy retreated to behind her desk, fast. She was absolutely sure House would neither slap nor spank her, but she was just teensy bit afraid that he actually meant that kissing part. Certainly she was not taking any chances: "I'm fine," she insisted. "I'm not stressing, just angry."

"Ok," House drawled. "I think you actually have calmed down a notch. Too bad, I think I would've really liked spanking you."

"I bet," Cuddy scorned. "But that was never an option, nor will it ever be."

"Aww," House whined in disappointment.

"Live with it," Cuddy snapped. "So what was the real reason you came to see me?"

"That was it," House shrugged.

"You wanted to know if you could either kiss me or slap me?" Cuddy asked sarcastically.

"Well, sort of," House grimaced. "Basically I heard you had visitors and that the visit didn't go that well. I wanted to know what happened."

"Forbes and Taunton came by to tell me that they have found my replacement," Cuddy gnarled.

"Temporary one, I presume," House stated mildly. "After all, your contract is still valid and the board needs to be unanimous if they want to fire you – and even then, they need a reason."

"They did say that the man will be hired for six months with an option for another six months, should I like to stay home," Cuddy was nearly spitting the words out of her mouth. "But he is 35 years old, married with two kids, has an excellent resume and I cannot imagine he would have agreed to take this position for six months or even a year if he hasn't been promised something more!"

"What is his specialty?" House asked.

"He is not a doctor," Cuddy revealed. "He would be just the Head of the Hospital. The Dean's position they are planning to offer to Wilson."

"I see," House did indeed see the master plan that Cuddy, too, was suspecting. "They figure that they can demote you to a mere Dean of Medicine and have their _guy_ as the Head of the Hospital. Do they really think that you would fall for that? Or do they think that pregnancy has softened your head or that motherhood will do that?"

"Apparently," Cuddy fumed. "I have no problem with Wilson being a temporary Dean of Medicine, he is good. I can even handle having someone else as the temporary Head of this hospital. Not easily, I admit, I have worked too hard to make this place what it is, but I chose to get pregnant so I better handle it. But if they think that they can replace me permanently, they better think again."

"We knew they were going to try something," House reminded her. "That is why you have been keeping Stacy posted. Just call her and tell her about this latest development and she will tell you what you need to do to make sure you don't inadvertently create any loopholes into your contract. Once we have that covered we just need to wait and see. Once the Trips are born and you come back, then we can fight it. Until then we just make sure we have all the ammunition and the opposition has nothing."

"That simple?" Cuddy said with deep scorn and disbelief, though she did calm down.

"Yes, for the moment it is that simple," House stated. "Sure, I expect the fight to be pretty fierce once it commences but right now, we just sit tight. You cannot cancel the Trips so there is no way you can stop some things from happening. We just need to make sure that it's temporary."

"We?" Cuddy asked a little uncertainly. She was still finding it strange that she and House were on the same side most of the time.

"Yes, **we**," House confirmed. "Did you think I would let you deal with this alone? I like you as a boss and I don't want to learn to manipulate someone else. Sure, I have to do it for awhile, but I can handle a temporary inconvenience. I'll just make sure it's temporary."

"And how are you planning to do that?" Cuddy asked rolling her eyes.

"Well, I'm a doctor," House pointed out. "I know a lot of interesting things about the human body and all sorts of medicines. I'm sure I can come up with all sorts of interesting things that leave no trace."

"Nice idea," Cuddy dismissed him. "But you cannot murder people just because they do things you don't want to. Besides, the real culprits are Forbes and Taunton, not the new guy at all. Well, maybe not _at all_, but definitely not that much."

"He wants your job," House shrugged. "That is guilty enough for me. Besides, I didn't mean murder, just an inexplicable allergy or something."

"No, House," Cuddy shot his idea down. "Don't start planning anything like that. We will find some other way of dealing with this all."

"Yes we will," House confirmed. "But not now and not by stressing you into miscarriage. So come here," House limped to Cuddy's couch and sat down. He patted a place next to him: "Come on, plant your butt here and give me your feet. Your unreasonable irritability is partly due to your refusal to wear sensible shoes. Your feet are killing you again, aren't they?"

Cuddy walked to the couch a little apprehensively, this Nice House was still a new acquaintance to her and she was not hundred per cent sure he was to be trusted. But her feet were killing her and the idea of sitting down, taking off her shoes and putting her feet up was too tempting. She sat down and gave her feet to House who took off her shoes and – to her utter bliss – started to massage her feet. She moaned.

"Don't do that," House warned her with some laughter in his voice.

"What? Why?" Cuddy was lost.

"Moan like that," House clarified. "It's a massive turn on, especially since I don't need to wonder if you make the same noises during sex: you do."

"Shut up House," Cuddy tried to snap but it came out as an almost shamefaced apology. "I thought we agreed not to even mention it at work just in case somebody overhears."

"The only one who could hear is Miss Hill and she'd go to her grave before betraying you," House shrugged. "But you are right, better safe than sorry. I don't think you are cut to be a house-wife, with a capital letter or without. We need to make sure you can keep your job since we now have a house and kids and roots and everything right here. Besides, I hate changes."

"So shut up!" Cuddy smiled.

"Ok," House finished one foot and took the other one. "Are you coming to the house later today?"

"I don't know if I can," Cuddy mused. "I have tons of paperwork."

"I thought that was why you had an assistant," House pointed out. "To help you with your paperwork. And you cannot say that Miss Hill isn't fully qualified to deal with it."

"Why do you call her Miss Hill?" Cuddy asked. Usually House didn't use any kind of titles unless it was something like _The Evil Nurse Brenda_.

"She told me to," House muttered.

"And of course you always do as you are told," Cuddy scorned the idea.

"In her case I better, since my name is Gregory not George!" House shuddered in mock fear.

"She is not a dragon!" Cuddy defended her assistant. "She is the sweetest person I can think of."

"To you she is," House stated. "Because she likes you and you are her princess. Me, I'm the big bad wolf that the princess needs to be protected from."

"You are mixing your fairytales," Cuddy told him. "The dragon never guarded the princess against a wolf. Not even in Shrek. Mind you, Shrek was an ogre and you do have similar traits that he did; at least until he found love."

"Cameron! When did you get here?" House nearly jumped with exaggerated surprise.

"Stop that House," Cuddy had to laugh though. "I have not turned into Cameron just because I see that you have softened a lot since Little Love came into your life. And it's nothing to be ashamed of! You know it isn't. Aiko could melt a heart of stone and yours was never that bad."

"Yeah, ok," House muttered like a five year old boy who had been caught doing something nice to a girl. "I suppose I have to admit that Aiko has changed me a **little**."

"Just a little," Cuddy smiled knowingly. "But back to the house; was it today that Gail needed the last approvals?"

"Yep," House nodded getting up from the couch and putting a pillow under Cuddy's feet so that she could still rest for a moment. "Once she has those she can make the plans for the move and we can put your house on market."

"Well, you were right about Anna being able to do most of my paperwork so I guess I can make the time to come to the House," Cuddy agreed. "Come and get me when it's time to leave. I'll probably forget otherwise."

"Ok," House promised. "And you? Are you calm enough to go on with your day without eating anyone? Because there really is no room for anyone else in there with the Trips."

"I'm fine, thank you," Cuddy confirmed.

"Good, see you later then," House limped out of her office.

"Mission accomplished," he told to Miss Hill on his way out.

"Good," Anna nodded. "I'll tell Santa to note it down on your _nice_ column."

"Miss Hill, you are an evil woman," House shook his head at her on his way out.

"Of course," Anna accepted and went on with her work.


	3. What’s in a name?

_Than__k you for the reviews! _

_-------------------------------_

"So what was it?" Wilson asked as soon as House limped back into his office. House didn't reply immediately since Aiko was back and he needed to greet her first. House sat down in his chair and Kasumii gave Aiko to him to hug and hold while she got Aiko's bottle ready.

"Tell the others to come in here, too," House asked Kasumii as she went to the other room to warm the bottle. "Hello there, Little Love," House greeted his daughter. "How was your walk today?" Aiko made some experimental sounds in response and House pretended to understand – or maybe he did understand Wilson was never quite sure. Those two had a connection that seemed to be almost telepathic. He watched them exchange a few more comments but then his curiosity got the better of him.

"What happened with Cuddy?" Wilson repeated his question.

"Forbes and Taunton," House answered. "We need to plan so wait till everybody's here."

"They are up to something aren't they," Wilson sighed.

"Yeah," House nodded. "But then we expected them to be. Fortunately they don't know what they are up against."

"Is Lisa ok?" Blythe asked as she walked into her son's office with the team following her.

"Yes, Mom," House reassured her. "She is fine, but a couple of the members of the hospital board think they can stage a coup now that she is about to go on maternity leave."

"Why would they do that?" Foreman wondered. "Dr. Cuddy has made this hospital what it is today, they cannot be unsatisfied with her work!"

"That is not the point," Wilson sighed. "It's a question of power and who has it. Besides, Forbes and Taunton have always been a little sceptical about the abilities of women. They probably think that if Lisa has done a good job then just imagine what a man could have done in her shoes."

"No man could walk in her shoes," House growled as she accepted Aiko's bottle from Kasumii. "Those heels are killers!"

"I assume you mean that figuratively as well as literally?" Blythe smiled at her son.

"Absolutely," House asserted. "She is good because she is good. Gender has nothing to do with it. Except that I don't think a man could keep me even that much in line as she can."

"So, how are they planning to oust her then?" Chase puzzled.

"They are making Jimmy here take over the post of the Dean of Medicine and they are bringing in a wonder-boy to take over the administration," House explained. "They are probably figuring that Cuddy will quietly accept demotion to a mere Dean once she comes back from her maternity leave since that would be the _motherly_ thing to do in their opinion."

"And if she won't think of it on her own they will lean on her to make her," Wilson suspected.

"Surely they cannot do that?" Cameron insisted.

"Can you think of any reason why not?" House questioned. "Other than your usual moral outrage?"

"But if they are on the board their first priority must be the good of the hospital," Cameron refused to let go.

"I presume that they think the good of the hospital requires more power to them," Foreman pointed out. "If they get their man on the Head's seat, they can better control the hospital."

"That would make sense if Cuddy wasn't so good at her job," Cameron insisted. "Nobody else needs more control of the hospital, she has it all covered."

"It is possible that they feel she might be distracted once she has children," Blythe suggested kindly. "It has always been that way, women are expected to concentrate on their family and the job is supposed to suffer for it."

"Except that anyone who knows anything about Cuddy would be insane to think she would neglect this hospital for any reason at all," Chase argued. "Sure, she didn't expect to end up with triplets once she decided to have a child, but she will not be alone with them."

"And if she suspected that she wasn't able to do her job, she would be the first one to suggest changes," Wilson stated.

"I don't think it fair anyway," Kasumii mused as she took Aiko from House to burp. "They should give her a chance to show that she can do her work and take care of her family not just assume that she isn't a superwoman and start acting behind her back."

"You said it," House agreed. "It's not fair. Besides I don't really care what their motivation is, I just want Cuddy to stay. I'd hate to have to train another boss."

"So what do we do?" Foreman asked.

"We gather information," House said. "Information is power. We need to find out everything we can about the wonder-boy and his two stooges. And Wilson, you better call Stacy and get instructions from her. You cannot object to the hiring of this guy since he obviously is highly qualified, but you need to make sure that the minutes of the Board meeting clearly state that he is hired only for the duration of Cuddy's maternity leave. And there may be some things that you need to make sure are stated in his contract. But Stacy will know."

"I'll call her as soon as I can," Wilson nodded. "Or perhaps I'll talk with Cuddy first, so that I know what they have already dealt with. I presume Cuddy is calling Stacy too?"

"Yes of course," House assured him. "What is the point of asking a lawyer to help you with something if you don't keep her posted all the way?"

"So let's gather information then. What's this guy's name anyway?" Chase queried.

"I don't know," House confessed. "Didn't come up in the conversation, but I expect Wilson has it."

"Me?" Wilson was surprised. "How could I know his name when this is the first I heard of the plan at all?"

"I think Greg means that since the board meeting is tomorrow they must have sent a memo of this man to you," Blythe suggested. "If he is as qualified as Greg thinks he is then surely his sponsors have sent everyone his resume."

"You could be right," Wilson accepted. "I'll go and check. Though they might have left me out of the loop entirely, if they mean to make me the Dean, since it could make me biased and all."

"But hiring someone to be the Head of the Hospital is a separate issue isn't it?" Cameron asked. "Though you need to excuse yourself when they decide what to do with the Dean's position, surely you need to be there when they choose the Head, as you two do need to work closely together."

"Let's hope they share Cameron's view of this," House mused. "So go Jimmy, run like the wind! And bring us the information."

Wilson rolled his eyes at House but came back within five minutes. He had indeed received a memo about the _wonder-boy_.

"His name is Sheridan J. Rawls," Wilson revealed.

"He's gay?" House frowned.

"No he isn't," Wilson gave his friend a glare. "He has a wife, Ruth, and two children."

"I know that, Cuddy said so. It just means he is still in the closet," House shrugged.

"What makes you think he is gay in the first place," Foreman sounded exasperated.

"Duh! Sheridan," House marvelled. "I have never known a man whose name is Sheridan and who isn't gay. Talk about name being an omen!"

"He hasn't chosen his name himself," Cameron reminded him.

"But when he got old enough he would have changed it or started to use his middle name," House elucidated. "That is unless he was a _Sheridan_."

"I have to admit that the only two Sheridans I have ever known were gay," Blythe gave some support to her son. "Though I think the other one might have been bisexual. But that is a very limited sample so I don't think it fair to make assumptions before we even meet the man."

"It could make things easier, though," Kasumii piped in. "I'm fairly sure that the men who object to Dr. Cuddy because she is a woman, are not exactly going to be thrilled with a gay man either."

"That is true," Wilson nodded. "I don't think I have ever met two more homophobic men than Taunton and Forbes."

"That's one point to us then," House gloated.

"Only if you are right," Foreman reminded him. "I have met men who have truly embarrassing names, but who keep using them because it has been in the family for generations and they feel that denying it would be dishonouring their ancestors."

"Oh please," House groaned. "Don't go giving our victim any redeeming qualities like honour. We need to squash him and squash him good. Humanising him will just hinder us. Besides trying to find the good in people is Cameron's job."

"Foreman is right," Cameron voiced. "For all we know he is a nice honourable man who doesn't know that Forbes and Taunton are using him to oust Cuddy."

"Yeah, and if you watch enough reruns of Gilligan's island they will actually be rescued," Chase muttered.

"It's not an unreasonable assumption," Cameron insisted. "How do we know what those two have told him? He could very well be coming here without any idea of the power games that are going on behind Cuddy's back."

"True," House agreed with Cameron making everyone stare at him. "It is possible that he has not kept his name because he is gay but because he is an utter idiot. There is no way he does not know what is going on, not if he has any kind of brain in his head and his resume suggests that he does have a brain. Power games are par for the course in Hospitals, in any Boards or similar bodies, come to that. Besides, there is no way he would have accepted Forbes and Taunton's offer without doing some research himself and anyone could have told him that Cuddy will never voluntarily relinquish any of her power to anyone. Except temporarily and even then only if she has no choice."

"So what is wrong with him if he is willing to come into this situation?" Chase wondered. "He knows he has a fight in his hands, he can only count on two members of the board for support and he has no way of knowing that he will have a job six months from now. He cannot even be sure he will get a favourable recommendation since when the fight is for power it tends to get dirty."

"We have to find that out," House said. "Hopefully it is something that will make him go away quietly."

"There might be nothing wrong with him," Foreman pointed out. "He may be waiting for an opening in another hospital and experience here will give him the necessary edge over whatever competition he has for that position."

"But I don't think Forbes and Taunton would have hired him if they thought he had no intention even to be anything but temporary," Wilson doubted.

"Rawls may not have told them," Chase offered. "He may know Cuddy's reputation and know that there is no way this is anything but temporary, so he may have decided to make use of this opportunity and just let Forbes and Taunton go hang themselves."

"I hope that is the case," Cameron was already smiling. "It would make things so much nicer."

"We definitely need to take that possibility into consideration, too," Blythe stated to her son who was looking scornful. "But for Lisa's sake we have to be prepared for the other alternatives as well. Besides, it is possible these Forbes and Taunton have a plan B as well. And Rawls may be just the point man or even a decoy. We need to keep Stacy posted and we need to make sure we don't inadvertently give up any ground we have."

"Spoken like a true military wife," House approved. "We need a defence and a strategy for all possible scenarios. Though I still say it's Rawls who Forbes and Taunton want replacing Cuddy. And I still say Sheridan is gay."

--------------------------

Later that day Cuddy, Blythe and House were at the new house with their interior designer Gail. They inspected the rooms that were ready, the women made final choices for curtains and colours and what not boring House nearly out of his mind. Finally they had given their seal of approval for everything and Gail was able to give them the final schedule.

"Good, I can confirm the movers then and have the men in to do the final fittings so that Dr. and Mrs. House can move in next week-end and you, Dr. Cuddy can move a week later. Is that acceptable?" Gail asked.

"Works for me," House nodded. "You did inform the movers, that some of my things will stay in my old flat and some things from Dr. Cuddy's house will be taken into there as well, since Dr. Wilson is taking over my lease?"

"Yes, they wanted me to remind you to mark those things clearly, but other than that, no problem," Gail confirmed. "They will do all the packing and moving and all you need to do is to pack those personal items you don't want them to handle and then get yourselves here and settle in."

"Thank you," Cuddy accepted the plan. "That is acceptable."

"You did remind them that one of the items from my flat is a piano," House wanted to make sure.

"Yes, I did and I was told they will make sure they have experienced men moving it," Gail stated.

"Good," House said. "Then I'm fine and we will start the moving next week-end. Mother?"

"Yes, that will be perfect," Blythe agreed.

They finalised the plan and then Gail left them alone in the house.

"So Cuddy," House turned to her smiling his mischievous smile. "How long do you think before either one of us has to get a shovel and dig a shallow grave in the back yard for the other one?"

"I'm pregnant, I can't do any digging," Cuddy pointed out dryly. "I would need to ask Wilson for help."

"Children!" Blythe admonished them with a twinkle in her eye. "Neither one of you will do any digging or murdering either. I'll make sure of that. My grandchildren deserve to have two parents and you will provide them with that even if it kills you."

"Well, Mom, that rather was my point," House recognized.


	4. Willing to change

A couple of days later, Wilson was at House's flat helping him pack some things that he didn't want to leave to the movers. Blythe was going to do most of House's packing, the clothes and things like that, but there were a few things House didn't want his mother to see – and it wasn't just the porn. House had told Wilson to get a locked box from the upper shelf of his bookcase and place it on the coffee table. The two men were sitting down looking at it.

"So," Wilson said, not knowing what else to say but feeling that something had to be said.

"So," House replied. He was fiddling with the key that would open the box.

"What are you going to do," Wilson asked close to exploding.

"I'm not sure," House shrugged. "It has been there for so long and knowing that it was there ..."

"But you cannot have it anywhere near your kids," Wilson tried to point out.

"Don't be silly," House scoffed. "It is a locked box and if I take it with me to my new place I will keep it on the top shelf there, too. The kids are more likely to get to my Vicodin and what other medicine we may have in the house sooner than they get to this. And once they are troublesome teenagers and decide to do drugs they will get them easier from somewhere else than from Daddy's secret stash."

"But its still morphine," Wilson worried. "You would hate yourself if something happened to the kids because of it."

"I will hate myself if they drink kitchen cleaner, bang their heads on a table or whatever it is kids always end up doing to hurt themselves," House mused. "This is not a direct danger to them in any way. That is not the reason I think of leaving this behind."

"But you are thinking of leaving it behind," Wilson wanted to be sure.

"Yeah," House sighed. "I think it may be time. I'm not saying that I won't need morphine again; I still have chronic pain and there is no reason to assume it won't get worse again, just because I have had it good ever since Aiko came into my life. But I believe I need to stop secretly self-medicating. Before if I got it wrong or if what I took disagreed with something someone else gave me, it didn't matter. The only one who was going to suffer was me. Now, if something happens to me Aiko is the one who will suffer most and Cuddy and the triplets need me, too." House shook his head banging the key to the table next to the box. "I always knew that responsibility is a bitch! Take it away Wilson. Take it away."

Wilson didn't need telling twice. He took the box and the key and went out to lock them in his car for the time being. He would dispose of the items later, at work. He returned to House's flat.

"You did the right thing," Wilson told his friend.

"Yeah," House scorned. "And I feel so good about it, too. You know this feeling of righteousness, virtue; almost holiness is what I live for. It's so me."

"Stop that House," Wilson found his friend somewhat exasperating, though he did feel a little like smiling at his disgusted demeanour. "It doesn't make you any less an ass just because you do the right thing just once in a while."

"Jerk," House insisted. "I'm not an ass. I'm a jerk."

"Fine! Have it your way," Wilson sighed.

--------------------------------------

Blythe had been home to her husband when House and Wilson had disposed of the box. She came back the next day bringing more of her things with her. She also said that she had arranged to have the rest of her things shipped at a later date.

"That almost sounded like you're not going back?" House wondered. "How would that work with your marriage counselling? Or is Dad moving here too and you are going to find a new one here?"

"No, we are not getting anywhere with the counselling so I'm starting the divorce proceedings," Blythe revealed. She refused to look at her son, though, in stead she concentrated on Aiko who was happily exploring her grandmother's face with her little hands.

"After only four meetings?" House asked. "That does not sound like you. I don't mean to interfere since it's your marriage, but are you sure?"

"No," Blythe sighed. "But I don't know what else to do. John is not co-operating. He is basically waiting for the therapist to tell me to get over it and go back to my husband. He is not talking about anything he is not participating; he just sits there and grunts."

"That sounds like him," House acknowledged. "He probably thinks that the whole thing is old news and going over and over the same ground is just pointless since he cannot change anything he did anyway."

"I know that, but things need to change now," Blythe distressed. "I don't want to go over the same ground over and over again but he isn't willing to go over it even once and I need to know how he feels about it. If he regrets it if he knows that what he did was wrong. Just once. I lived a lie for over forty years; I cannot just shrug it of. I know he can live with what he did, he has been doing it all this time; I know he doesn't need to talk about it, he didn't. But **I** need it. And if he isn't willing to do even this for me, then there is no marriage. At least not one I want any part in."

"Are you expecting to shock him into co-operating with the divorce papers?" House wondered.

"If this does shake him enough for him to want to talk, want to really work with me, I'm willing to put the divorce on hold," Blythe finally looked his son in the eye. "But I am not counting on it. This is not a scare tactic. Until we have really dealt with this, with what he did to you, I will not go back to him. And if he never wants to deal with it, then why stay married to him?"

"Ok," House was still worried, but he had to trust that his mother knew what she wanted. "It is your marriage and your husband. You are the only one who knows what is best for you. You will go on seeing your personal therapist, though?"

"Yes," Blythe nodded. "I still need help in sorting out my own feelings. Especially now, I suppose."

"Good. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you," House told his mother.

------------------------

Later that day – or actually it was more night by then – House walked back and forth in his office. The patient of the week was between seizures and the team was waiting for test results to get more information. But for now House was not worried about the patient. He stopped at the phone a couple of times even picking up the receiver but setting it down every time. Finally he made up his mind. He sat down at his desk, took the phone and dialled. After four rings his father picked up.

"Dad, it's Greg," House said.

"Called to gloat," John House queried.

"No," House replied neutrally. "It's not important enough for me to gloat about."

"Then why are you calling?" John' voice sounded bitter. "Surely you're not asking after my health."

"No, not that either," House stated. "I actually don't really want to talk to you at all, but Mother is too important to me to not try to do this. She needs more from you than you are willing to give."

"She has a funny way of showing it," John scoffed. "If she needs me, she should not be divorcing me."

"I didn't say she needs you," House clarified. "I said she needs something from you. There is a difference. Though if you can give her what she needs, she may end up needing you, too."

"You are saying that she is not sure about the divorce?" John surmised.

"She is sure that the divorce is the only thing she can do, since you have refused everything else," House pointed out.

"I haven't refused anything," John was getting angry.

"Except trying to work on your marriage," House scoffed.

"I don't see how having her tame therapist ask the same questions over and over again is _working on the marriage_," John nearly exploded.

"And have you answered any of the questions yet?" House asked.

"No, of course not," John huffed. "They are private things, none of his concern."

"But Mom doesn't want to talk about them in private," House reminded him. "She needs the therapist there to keep things neutral. And has she in any way indicated that she has no interest in finding answers to those questions?"

"Well, no," John growled. "But we don't need any therapists or anything. Our parents stayed married all their lives without any therapists putting their noses in things. Marriage is between two people, you don't invite others to meddle in it."

"You do, if you don't know how to go on alone," House said trying to hold on to his temper. "Besides, does it matter? Your wife needs someone else there. You promised to be there for her no matter what. You weren't there for her most of your married life because of your job. Now you have a chance and you refuse?"

"What do you know about marriage?" John threw in for lack of anything else to say.

"Not much," House admitted. "But I do know that you are making your wife unhappy. I don't really want to talk to you about your marriage – or anything, come to that – but Mom is unhappy. You are the reason for it. I needed to do something. I have had my say now. If you want to go on being a coward, fine. Do as you please. This is as far as I'm willing to go to meddle in this."

"That's it?" John huffed. "You call to chastise me about my marriage and then you hang up? You are not even telling me about my grandchildren!"

"I wasn't aware you were interested in my daughter," House noted in a dangerously quiet voice.

"I was talking about my real grandchildren, the ones that have not yet been born," John barked.

"Yes, I rather suspected that you were," House scorned. "They are none of your concern."

"Are you denying me my grandchildren!" John wasn't sure he could believe his ears.

"I suppose I am," House flipped. "You see, you don't get to pick and choose. And since you reject one, you reject them all. I don't expect to be calling you again."

House hung up. He already regretted having called his Father. Though he didn't know what else he could have done; somebody had to try and shake some sense into John or Blythe was never going to get proper closure to her marriage. Well, he had done all he could or was willing to do. Time to go home and relieve Blythe from baby-sitting duty.

-------------------

Next morning when Kasumii came to House's flat to start her day's work as Aiko's Nanny; she found father and daughter in the same bed again. House had, again, made a safe nest for Aiko and he was sleeping curled around it with his hand on Aiko's chest. Kasumii smiled ruefully. She was fairly sure she was going to win the bet about House being willing to let Aiko sleep in the new nursery once they moved into the new house. Kasumii was absolutely convinced that there was no way Aiko would end up spending her nights away from her father for quite a few months yet. Shaking her head at her boss Kasumii went into the kitchen to get Aiko's morning bottle ready and a little later she shook House awake and gave the bottle to him. Kasumii got Aiko's bath ready while House fed the baby and once that was done, he bathed her and then gave her to Kasumii to dress while he had his own shower and Blythe – who had come down from the upstairs flat – made them breakfast. After that the adults ate the pancakes while Aiko sat on House's lap and made conversation with them. Of course, most of her statements needed translation but House was happy to act as an interpreter for his daughter – and Blythe and Kasumii felt that he actually did understand everything Aiko had to say. It was weird, but they could not shake the feeling.

They got ready for work and got to the hospital at House's usual late hour only to find that the Queen of Hearts was reigning that day and the hospital staff had been waiting for House with baited breath to calm Cuddy down.

"I can't believe that none of you are smart enough to go and get her some frozen yogurt!" House sighed at them in exasperation. "Didn't you even have the smarts to ask Wilson?"

"He has been busy with his patients," Miss Hill responded. "And we already tried the yogurt. She wasn't having any. She wanted blood. Yours preferably."

"Her preference or yours?" House asked as he limped into the she-lions den.

"I rather think that was the one thing this morning that we completely agreed on," Miss Hill smiled sweetly at him.


	5. RoughHousing Cuddy

_Thank you for your reviews! I do appreciate them even though I don't reply to them individually; I sort of feel that the best response is always to get the next chapter out ASAP._

_-------------------------------------- _

House made his way into Cuddy's office where Cuddy was sitting at her desk and doing paper work, though it looked more like she was chewing the papers than actually working on them.

"So you got your precious butt here after all," Cuddy snarled. "Is it really too much to ask for you to come to work on time just once?"

"Yes," House replied simply leaning on his cane and assessing Cuddy.

"I know you are a brilliant doctor and you nearly always save your patients, but you are still working here!" Cuddy ranted. "You have no right to assume that you can dictate your own hours or work only when it pleases... "

"Cuddy, shut up," House told her.

"What?" Cuddy gulped. She had just been hitting her stride and House's calm order took her totally by surprise.

"The last time you saw your doctor what tests did she take?" House asked.

"Just the usual," Cuddy frowned. "She wanted some more, but I didn't have time for useless tests."

"I thought so," House nodded. "Come along then." House limped to Cuddy and took her arm starting to drag her towards the door.

"What are you doing," Cuddy glared. "Let go of me!" She tried to struggle against the surprisingly solid grip on her arm.

"Cuddy my dear," House smiled in less than reassuring way. "You have a choice. Either you will follow me quietly to your doctor's office or I will kiss you silly."

"You wouldn't..." Cuddy thought better of her words just before they all got out of her mouth.

"Was that a dare I heard?" House stopped and turned to smile at Cuddy. He still had a long way to go before he got to _reassuring_.

"No," Cuddy insisted quickly. "Nothing of the sort. I was merely going to say that I don't need you to escort me to my doctor. I'm fine and I have work to do."

"Nothing you have on your desk is as important as this," House decided as he dragged Cuddy past Miss Hill's desk. "Miss Hill, Dr. Cuddy is going to visit Dr. Jordan and it will be up to Dr. Jordan to decide whether she can return to work today."

"Very well, Dr. House," Anna accepted – much to Cuddy's indignation. "I will hold the fort."

"Thank you, Miss Hill," House smirked as he dragged Cuddy out into the lobby and towards the lifts. They gathered some anxious looks but nobody interfered, or even asked what was going on. Cuddy stopped fighting accepting that either she agreed to see her doctor of House would in all likelihood really kiss her silly – and in front of an audience, too.

Dr. Jordan was with a patient, but though they had to wait for fifteen minutes House did not let Cuddy run. He had decided that Cuddy was going to see Dr. Jordan, and see her she would. Fortunately there were no other patients waiting, so once the current client came out of Helen's office Cuddy and House were able to go in.

"Dr. Cuddy is here for full physical and any and all tests you think she needs," House announced as she marched Cuddy in.

"Happy to hear that," Helen acknowledged. "But I'm not sure why you are here, Dr. House."

"Being too big for his breeches," Cuddy muttered.

"Are you sure you want to bait me now, Cuddy?" House asked. "Considering the mood **I'm** in?"

"I just don't appreciate your strong-arm tactics," Cuddy sighed. "I'm perfectly capable of coming to see my doctor when I feel the need. I don't feel the need right now."

"That is because you are being irrational _right now_," House replied.

"Interesting though this conversation is," Helen was beginning to feel like she was in a tennis match. "Could you either have it somewhere else or postpone it until after I have examined Lisa?"

"Sorry Helen, but I really don't have the time for this," Cuddy was still fuming a little. "Nor is there any need for an additional visit, the schedule we set up is good."

"But we did agree that you could come by any time you want if you feel the need," Helen reminded her.

"But I don't feel the need," Cuddy huffed. "It's House."

"So why do **you** feel she needs me now, Dr. House?" Helen sighed with exaggerated patience. The tennis match had just turned into a Kindergarten outing.

"She is having tantrums all over the place, more frequently than she used to," House replied. "Her blood pressure is probably sky high again and she is scared."

"Am not!" Cuddy glared at him.

"Are too," House countered making a face at her.

"Am ... What makes you think that I'm scared?" Cuddy demanded angrily.

"Because I am," House told her calmly and seriously.

"Oh," that confession took the wind out of Cuddy's sails and she didn't know how to reply or what to do.

"So," House raised his eyebrows. "Are you letting Jordan do her job or do I need to stay and make you?"

"I... I'm ..." Cuddy sighed in defeat. "Fine. You can go and do your clinic duty. I'll stay here with Helen and ... Whatever. But we will talk later!"

"Of course," House nodded as he limped out of the office. "You know how to find me."

"That I do," Cuddy muttered. "After all I do spend half my days hunting you down."

"Aww, that was mean," House threw Cuddy a pouting look before he closed the door.

"Lisa, are you quite sure Dr. House is a doctor?" Helen wondered. "Or even an adult?"

"He is not an adult," Cuddy sighed. "He is an eight year old in a man's body. But he gets away with it since he really is a doctor. A brilliant doctor."

"I suppose he has to be if he can get away with everything I have heard of him," Helen mused while Cuddy was getting ready for the examination.

"And you haven't even heard the half of it," Cuddy revealed. "But he is brilliant enough to get away with pretty much anything."

----------------------

It was over an hour later that House saw Cuddy come down and walk to her office. Surprisingly enough House had decided to do his clinic duty, though part of the reason might have been that from the clinic he could see when Cuddy got back. He dumped his last file on the desk and limped into Cuddy's office.

"You come with me, Miss Hill," House ordered as he walked through the ante-room. He entered without knocking, half expecting to feel Miss Hill's heavy hand on his coat tails pulling him back. It didn't happen. He turned to give her a questioning look.

"This is not business," Miss Hill pointed out. "I don't monitor your conduct in private."

Before House could ask for clarification they were in and Cuddy turned to look at them.

"What do you want," Cuddy frowned. "And since when have you two been this buddy buddy?"

"We aren't," Anna replied. "But when it comes to your well being I would allay myself with the devil himself."

"He is worse," Cuddy sighed but came over to sit on the couch while they took the armchairs.

"So, did you allow Dr. Jordan to check you out thoroughly?" House asked.

"Yes," Cuddy glared at him. "She didn't give me a choice. Helen said that if I didn't co-operate she would call you."

"Seems that she, too, is willing to work with the Devil when need be," Anna smiled.

"Smart woman," House approved. "So what were the results?"

"I don't eat well enough apparently. Not that I'm malnourished as such, just needing more vitamins and some minerals plus I need to eat more regularly. Spread the meals more evenly over the day," Cuddy explained. She didn't really want to tell all this to House – or Anna – but she was fairly certain House would find a way to find out what he wanted, whether she wanted or not. "I'm stressed, so I got a new prescription for a mild sedative, and I was told to take a nap during the day since, apparently, I don't sleep enough either."

"Did she give you a dietary plan?" House asked. Cuddy nodded and House extended his hand towards her: "Gimme!"

"It's on my desk," Cuddy said.

"Miss Hill?" House turned to Anna. "If you would take charge of it and see to it that Cuddy follows it to the letter?"

"Certainly," Anna accepted the duty. "What about the naps?"

"I think I'll need to see to them," House mused. "She is not going to agree to them quietly."

"Especially not when you two plan my life like I wasn't even here," Cuddy huffed.

"Lisa," Anna leaned closer and took Cuddy's hand. "If you don't take care of yourself, then somebody else needs to step in. We are not here as your employees, we are here as your friends. You are not alone in this. Accept the help we offer. Well, I'm offering, I'm not so sure Dr. House is giving you any options. He's an obstinate bastard."

"You could still ask me," Cuddy grumbled.

"Whenever we do you just say you're fine," House pointed out. "Or then you just snap our heads off. Why do you think you have gained the nickname of the Queen of Hearts?"

"I'm called that?" Cuddy wasn't sure what to think of it. Sure the idea of being able to order House's head brought to her on a platter was rather appealing most of the time – especially now that the triplets were making her more and more uncomfortable. But still, the Queen of Hearts had been pretty unreasonable and that did not appeal.

"When they are not calling you the Mother of all Monsters," Anna revealed as she stood up and went to get the dietary plan from the desk. "But I blame Dr. House for that, since the _monsters_ really are his."

"How many times do I have to tell people that I had no way of knowing we were going to end up with triplets!" House growled.

"My guess would be: the rest of your life," Anna told him as she headed out of the office. "I'll get started on this and leave you two alone. I'll make sure you will not be disturbed until you have finished your conversation and Dr. House has convinced you to take those naps."

"You were right," Cuddy muttered as the door closed after Anna. "She is a dragon."

"She just likes you," House smiled. "So are you going to take those naps?"

"I suppose," Cuddy relented. "If only because I don't really want to find out what you would do if I didn't."

"Good," House nodded. "I'm glad I don't have to come up with something drastic – though it might have been fun."

"Not for me, I'm sure," Cuddy doubted. She bit her lip a little uncertainly but then decided to ask what was on her mind: "Did you mean it when you said you are scared?"

"Of course," House shrugged. "How could I not be scared?"

"But you are so wonderful with Aiko," Cuddy wondered. "You know you can do this. Why would you worry?"

"I'm not so sure about that _wonderful_," House gave a short laugh. "Aiko is a baby. They have never bothered me till they get teeth. But she will get teeth, in a matter of days possibly. Where will I be then? What do I know about children? I'm not even sure I ever was one. The idea of taking care of Aiko, of trying to raise her into a decent human being, trying to **not** screw up too badly has me petrified. And now there are going to be three more! Yeah, I know I will have help. Mother will be there, Dr. Higa, Kasumii – who actually has the training for the job -, you, Jimmy, my team even Grey. Yes, I'll get help, but I'm the one who has the responsibility. If I screw up, Aiko is the one who will pay the price. As will the triplets for any mistakes that I make with them. You bet your ass I'm scared!"

"Oh," Cuddy was at loss for words again. "I never thought that you could feel like that. That you are actually feeling everything I feel."

"It's easier for me," House suggested.

"How so?" Cuddy was puzzled.

"I'm not the one who is actually pregnant," House itemised. "Plus you worry about other things as well. You fear that the idiot who will be in charge during your absence will hurt your hospital. You worry about the hospital, your doctors, your nurses – all the people working here, and you worry about your own job. And, of course since you are you, you are also feeling guilty, because you feel you are letting the hospital down because you decided – selfishly – to have a baby. And you feel guilty for the parasites, since you worrying about the hospital might put them in danger due to your blood pressure and all that. Which is the real reason why you didn't want Jordan to do a thorough examination before I forced you: you feared she was going to find something."

"Don't be silly," Cuddy demanded. "I'm a doctor. I know that ignoring a problem does not make it go away. If I feared for my babies, the rational thing would be for me to go to my doctor and see if something really was wrong and how to fix it."

"But you are not being rational," House reminded her. "Pregnant women often are not. You know, with the hormones and all that. You are not called the weaker vessel for nothing, you know."

"Weaker vessel!" Cuddy practically screamed at House. "I'd like to see how a man would handle a pregnancy!"

"Ah, now there's my Cuddy," House approved.

"Oh, you," Cuddy made a face at him. "You know, sometimes I really wish I was the Queen of Hearts and could just tell somebody to behead you."

"I know," House acknowledged. "But you can't because you will need me with the kids. I don't know how we will do it, but somehow we will manage. We have to. We cannot cancel them so this is the show and we are the players."

"With our exits and entrances?" Cuddy smiled ruefully.

"We'll try to keep the exits to a minimum," House responded. "Except for now, I really need to go and see if my team has finally figured out what is wrong with our patient."

"I know," Cuddy sighed. "Thank you. For caring."

"I'm not going to say _anytime_," House warned her. "I'm afraid of creating a precedent."

"Oh, just shut up and go!" Cuddy told him with an exasperated laugh.


	6. Entremés

_Thank you again for the reviews! And, yes, this story will end soon after the trips are born, but I'm not yet sure about the next sequel. I am definitely thinking of it, but I'm not yet sure "they" want to play with me that long! ;)_

------------------------------------

Wilson and House were winding down in House's office at the end of their working day. House's patient had been diagnosed with Reye's syndrome and since no new patient had presented themselves that day, House had sent his team home. Kasumii had just got all of Aiko's things put in place and organized for the next day and had gone to have a word with Grey about their date and House was entertaining Aiko with Mr. Panda while they waited. Wilson had strolled in – as usual – and was waiting with them.

"I hear you got Cuddy to see her doctor today," Wilson opened the conversation.

"Yeah," House admitted. "She was stressing again, so somebody needed to do something."

"You have been awfully nice to her lately," Wilson mused. "Not that I complain, she needs that now that she is pregnant, but it's not quite you."

"Worried?" House smiled.

"A little," Wilson said. "I'm worried about what is going on in your head, what spectacular prank you are hatching. It's not that you cannot be nice when you really want to, but usually there is a twist, or at least a price. You haven't even been particularly obnoxious in the clinic."

"Can't be," House told him. "Cuddy doesn't need any more stress. No matter how much it goes against my nature, I have to think of her. It wouldn't matter so much if she was pregnant by anybody else or if she wasn't pregnant with triplets, but however much I might like to deny it, I am partly responsible for this situation and I have to behave accordingly."

"But surely that does not mean you need to be nice at the clinic?" Wilson wondered – though he wished he could bite his tongue and not give House any ideas, but he needed to know.

"I haven't been completely nice, since that would stress Cuddy more," House smiled ruefully. "But I have been careful about who I send to Cuddy and who not. A couple of complaints a week will keep her from wondering if I'm up to something big but is not stressing her too much. Also I do still leave a few annoying patients for her to finish up – though I haven't topped that MP3 player guy yet."

"What MP3 player guy?" Wilson was immediately interested.

"Didn't I tell you about him?" House was surprised. "A young guy had an MP3 player stuck up his ass and he couldn't get it out. I made him wait till my shift was over and then told Brenda to tell Cuddy that there was a patient waiting for her. She yelled at me for half an hour the next day."

"Why would anyone stick an MP3 player up his...?" Wilson was mystified.

"I suppose it was the shape or the pounding base-line," House mused. "Not really my area of expertise."

"Strange," Wilson shook his head at the thought. "But back to the original subject. You are telling me that you are really being genuinely nice to Cuddy?"

"Well, I don't know about _genuine_," House drawled. "But yeah, I'm minding my manners till she gives birth. At least around her. Once she stays home and we have Gay Sheridan in charge, things will change."

"So you are saving up your bad behaviour for the new man?" Wilson asked.

"Do you object?" House queried.

"No, not really," Wilson admitted. "If the new guy really is after Cuddy's job then we need to do everything we can to shift him, but he might be innocent."

"Then it will be good training for him," House shrugged. "If he survives my treatment, he will be up to dealing with just about anybody. If he isn't innocent – and I'm pretty sure he cannot be – then he will get the full treatment, no holds barred, and he will be toast before his contract is even up for renewal."

"You are really gathering up steam for him, aren't you?" Wilson was beginning to feel extremely sorry for Sheridan – guilty or not.

"Yeah," House gloated. "It's going to be fun."

"You do realise that Sheridan won't give you any slack?" Wilson reminded House. "He is not Cuddy and you will be in deep trouble a lot sooner than you would be with her."

"If he can find a way to blame me for them," House smirked. "He doesn't know me like Cuddy does, so he won't just blame me on principle. It will probably take him quite some time to even suspect such a distinguished doctor as me."

"You are not distinguished anything!" Wilson scoffed. "You wouldn't know distinguished if it got up and bit you."

"True, true," House admitted. "But Sheridan doesn't know that. All he knows is that I'm a world-renowned diagnostician. And I don't plan on letting him know any different, at least not for quite some time."

"You know, I almost feel sorry for him," Wilson shook his head. "And I don't even know the guy!"

"He'll survive," House scoffed. "And if he doesn't he has no business trying to be a hospital administrator anyway!"

"So you are going to be nice to everyone till Sheridan gets here?" Wilson still wondered.

"To Cuddy," House clarified. "I'm being nice to Cuddy."

"So all others are still free game?" Wilson queried.

"Of course," House gave him an innocent stare.

"But you haven't..." Wilson started to feel a little uncomfortable. "Surely I would have ..." Wilson stared at House who was giving him his best _it wasn't me_ look. "You have done something to me! Haven't you? I just haven't realised it yet. It's like those flowers again? What did you do? If it's something like that again, so help me... I'll ... I'll."

"Relax Jimmy," House said most unconvincingly. "I haven't done anything at all."

"Yeah, right," Wilson stood up. "What is it? Is it something in my office? Or, no you wouldn't have sent flowers to Cuddy in my name, or anything. You are being nice to Cuddy, so it cannot involve her in any way. I need to find out what you have done!" Wilson stormed out of House's office barely avoiding collision with Kasumii and Blythe who were on their way in.

"What did you do to James?" Blythe asked her smirking son.

"Nothing," House revealed. "Nothing at all. And that's the beauty of it."

---------------------

Once they got to House's flat Kasumii went into his bathroom to change for her date and House and Blythe settled in to their evening routine. When Kasumii got out of the bathroom she found House on the couch with Aiko playing _fish_. It was currently Aiko's favourite game – and it actually provided a lot of entertainment for casual observes, too. House made a creditable imitation of a goldfish with his face crossing his eyes, hollowing his cheeks and opening and closing his mouth. He did that a couple of times and then Aiko did her best to imitate him. She was actually getting good at it for a 28 week old baby. And then they laughed together – or whatever it was that passed for laughter for each of them. Aiko, actually got closer to real laugh with her squeals of delight, House more barked, though sometimes – and Blythe really loved those times – when they had played long enough, House did laugh for real hugging Aiko and telling her she was a clever girl. Kasumii observed them for a minute and then she stepped further into the living room.

"So, how do I look," she asked with slight edge of sarcasm in her voice.

"You are asking me?" House played surprised and innocent to the nth degree. "Surely I have no right to tell you what to wear."

"You got that right," Kasumii agreed with a small glare, though there was a smile in there somewhere as well. "But that has never before stopped you from sending me to change my clothes to whatever it is you think I should wear."

"Well, you look delectable," House told her. "It's a good thing you are going out with a reserved and passionless Englishman. Any red-blooded American would skip the meal and go for you."

"Well isn't it a good thing, then, that you are not red-blooded," Kasumii countered having got used to House slighting her boyfriend.

"Oh, I'm red-blooded all right," House insisted. "You're just not my type, Infant."

"And I sure am glad about that," Kasumii agreed. "You would be the pits as a boyfriend."

"That's because I'm not a _boy_," House stated just as there was a knock on the door.

Blythe who had been watching the bickering between those two with amusement went to let Grey in: "Come in David and rescue my son, will you. He is heading for a beating by his Nanny."

"Richly deserved I presume," Grey said as he stepped in. "Wow!" He took in Kasumii's appearance. She did indeed look delectable in slim black pants and a sleeveless tunic in her favourite light pink.

"She's not on the menu until after dinner," House threw from the couch earning a glare from Grey.

"I see what you mean Blythe," Grey observed. "You really should be more careful, House. If you alienate both your Nanny and your Physical Therapist, where will you be then?"

"In position to hire new ones," House replied glibly.

"Sure, you being so fond of interviews and all," Grey scoffed. "Besides, you know perfectly well that there is no replacement for Kasumii."

"That I do," House replied with surprising seriousness. "And as long as you remember that, too, we have no problems."

"With you, there are always problems," Grey replied dryly. "But have no fears, I may love Kasumii to distraction, but I'm awfully fond of your _little fish_, too." House looked down at Aiko, who, now that her father's attention was distracted, amused herself by practising her _fish-face_.

"I just hate it when Alfa-males start marking their territory, even when they are mostly in agreement about it," Blythe said to Kasumii. "You look lovely, so take your man and have a lovely evening."

"I will, thank you Blythe," Kasumii smiled. "Come on David, you can finish your – what is it called? Pissing competition? – with Dr. House later." She dragged her date out of the flat saying good night to House and Blythe.

Blythe closed the door after them and then she walked slowly to her son.

"Your... John called me today," Blythe said as he sat down.

"Oh," House paused for a moment to try and gather his thoughts. He didn't want to say the wrong thing, just in case his father hadn't mentioned his call. "What about?"

"He wants to come here and talk," Blythe explained.

"Talk? I rather thought that is what you two have been trying to do for quite some time," House observed.

"True," Blythe acknowledged. "We have tried, but he hasn't been willing. I don't know why, but now he at least wants to understand why I want help with that. He said that the main reason he has been unwilling to work in the counselling is that he has not been able to understand why we need outsiders to talk. He said that if he can understand my reasons for needing the therapist there, he will try again. And he is even willing to come here to do it."

"Do you think he is moving here? Now that you have stated that no matter what happens with your marriage you want to be closer to your grandchildren?" House wondered.

"I think that he is considering it," Blythe mused. "That is if there seems to be any hope for our marriage."

"He has been part of your life for fifty years," House pointed out. "Do you really think that even if you end up divorcing him, you will be able to leave him behind completely?"

"What do you mean?" Blythe was a little confused.

"It's a big chunk of your life," House said. "If you just throw him out, it makes your marriage almost like garbage. And it wasn't, not all of it. Yes, there was a huge lie there, but that does not invalidate everything. I cannot see how you could not have him in your life in some capacity no matter what happens."

"But what about you?" Blythe wanted to know. "If I keep seeing him, or even if I stay married to him, how will that affect you?"

"I already told you once; the abuse was not a defining moment in my life," House reminded her. "Sure, it was a defining moment in my relationship with my father and that did affect things later on, too, but I would not have been much different from what I am even if the abuse hadn't happened. I know that sounds strange and I'm sure had it gone on for longer the outcome would have been very different, but it didn't and other things were more important in shaping me to what I am than that. If you need him in your life, I can live with it. Even if it means that I have to meet him from time to time."

"And your children?" Blythe asked. "Surely you don't want him to be their grandfather?"

"I would never leave him alone with them for sure, but other than that, it depends on him," House stated. "Provided that he accepts that Aiko is no different from the Trips, I have no problem with him being a grandfather to my kids. Though, of course we would need to agree on rules and boundaries."

"You are very generous," Blythe said.

"No, this is not generosity," House denied. "This is indifference. But I do want you to be happy, so I'm ok with everything that helps with that."

"Thank you," Blythe had tears in her eyes as she gave him a kiss. "I don't want to hurt you, you know."

"I know," House nodded. "You never have."


	7. Meet Sheridan

_Thank you for your reviews :)._

_Obviously I'm not versed in the employment laws etc of the States, since I live in Europe, so all the references to Cuddy's contract and things involved in that – or in Sheridan's employment - come from the top of my head. I invent them as I go along. I don't feel guilty, since they do that on the show, too! Or can anyone tell me that what happened with Tritter could actually happen? That in real life Cuddy wouldn't have had an army of lawyers up Tritter's butt long before he got anywhere near any hospital records? Never mind the rest of it all. I try to keep the flies a little smaller than that, so please, just go with it ;)_

_--------------------------------_

The move had gone well – even House's precious piano had survived and Blythe was very happy with her new quarters. Wilson had moved into House's old flat at the same time. Kasumii had not yet moved in with House and Aiko as it was decided that she would stay with Cuddy till she moved, too, just in case. Blythe didn't want Cuddy living alone now that she was pregnant – and though House would rather have died that voiced an opinion, he was in complete agreement with his mother. Their move was scheduled to happen the next week-end, and House was expecting interesting things to happen then!

House had barely got to his office on Monday morning when his phone rang. Seeing that it was Miss Hill calling he almost didn't answer, but since it was most likely about Cuddy, he eventually decided to take the call.

"Thought you might like to know that Sheridan J. Rawls is in the building," Miss Hill went right to the point. "Get your crippled butt down here, now." Then she hung up – as tended to be her custom with House. Though House hated obeying Miss Hill, he didn't need telling twice this time.

Miss Hill was waiting for House when he got out of the elevator.

"What is going on?" House asked. "You don't usually come out of your domain to meet me; quite the contrary in fact."

"Well, I couldn't risk letting you go into Dr. Cuddy's office un-primed," Miss Hill explained as they walked towards Cuddy's office and the ante-room. "Rawls is not here to meet with Lisa, nor to have a tour of the premises or to meet the people; he is here to take over from her."

"Now?" House was taken aback. "But how could that be? Cuddy hasn't resigned, nor does her maternity leave start for a few weeks yet!"

"The board has appointed Rawls as the Assistant Head for now," Miss Hill explained with utter disdain. "Apparently they feel that will smooth over the transition."

"The board? How can that be," House was puzzled. "Wilson didn't warn us in any way!"

"He didn't know," Miss Hill told House curtly when they reached her desk. She didn't sit down nor did House enter Cuddy's office. They stood there watching through the glasses how Cuddy interacted with Rawls and a woman he had with him. Cuddy sat at her desk and could see House and Anne from there but the others didn't as they were facing Cuddy. "This time they suddenly decided that as Dr. Wilson was going to be the temporary Dean, he should be excused. Conflict of interest all of a sudden. And they actually haven't done the appointing yet. There will be an emergency meeting tonight, but apparently Forbes and Taunton have secured the majority already. Something about another offer to Rawls that made it necessary to secure him to this post now."

"Sure," House doubted. "I bet there was no other offer, but Sheridan wanted to get his foot in. Damn! Like Cuddy doesn't have enough stress as it is. The last thing she needs is this wanna-be at her heels trying to learn all the secret hand shakes and all."

"I know," Miss Hill nodded. "Not that Dr. Cuddy is stupid enough to teach him, but still, it will be difficult."

"Are those idiots **trying** to make her miscarry?" House spat.

"I don't think they have given that even a thought," Miss Hill observed. "This is just power games, pure and simple."

"Nothing pure or simple about them," House ground. "But at least that decides the matter: Sheridan is not innocent. He wants Cuddy's job."

"Which means we have to make sure he won't get it," Miss Hill insisted.

"Absolutely," House declared. "Sheridan is toast!" He made a fist with his hand and Anna met it with her own. It was a pact; and it earned a very worried look from Cuddy through the window – though she didn't know what it was about, but Anna and House in agreement over something – anything – was not good news. House gave Cuddy a very un-reassuring smile before he turned to Miss Hill: "He may want Cuddy's job but he is not getting it."

"No he isn't. But I do think I know how he expects to get it," Miss Hill said a little smugly.

"How?" House wanted to know.

"Well, first of all, you were wrong: he is not gay," Miss Hill started.

"Interesting, I'm sure" House admitted. "But what has that got to do with this and why are you sure he is not gay?"

"He is having an affair with his assistant," Miss Hill stated. "Or at least I'm fairly sure he is. I only talked to them together for five minutes, but there was a vibe there. Just look, even from here you can see it."

"Assistant?" House repeated. "That's not his wife with him then but an assistant? He is bringing his own with him?"

"Yes, he is," Miss Hill said. "And I'm told to show her the necessary ropes."

"I don't envy you," House observed. "But what does his assistant have to do with him getting Cuddy's job?"

"Now that is the interesting part," Miss Hill admitted. "The assistant's name is Janelle Forbes."

"Forbes?" House perked up immediately. "As in ... ?"

"Absolutely," Miss Hill gloated. "And I'm willing to bet my shirt on it that Daddy dearest has no idea that his precious girl is sleeping with her boss."

"Forbes is the epitome of puritanity and old-fashioned morals," House agreed. "If he had any idea of those goings on, he would do his utmost to stop it."

"That is my impression of him, too," Miss Hill agreed. "Mind you, I cannot absolutely swear to the affair, it is just my impression, but I have learned to trust them. But my instinct is not enough to convict them, we need proof."

"That may not be so easy to come by, you know," House mused. "They must know what they are risking if they get caught now." House shook his head: "What is it with these unfaithful husbands? Half my clinic patients either have them or are them! Most divorces that I see are due to the husband's infidelity – the only exception may well be my parents! Mind you, I'm not complaining if it helps us with getting rid of Sheridan, but it is getting a bit monotonous. Are there no unfaithful wives around anymore?"

"Actually, now that you ask," Miss Hill was starting to look like a cat who got the cream and just might share it with another cat – if asked nicely. "There is an unfaithful wife in that office, too."

"Explain!" House ordered.

"Ms. Forbes may have kept her maiden name after marriage, but that does not change the fact that she is married," Miss Hill paused for maximum effect. "And she is married to Wilfred Taunton Junior."

"Miss Hill, have I ever told you that I absolutely adore you?" House queried.

"No, you haven't," Miss Hill replied. "And no you don't. But that's ok. I can live without your adoration. Now get in there and help Dr. Cuddy deal with those idiots. Just make sure you don't let your temper tip your hand! We still need someone to take over during Dr. Cuddy's maternity leave and Sheridan may be an arrogant slime ball, but at least his references are good. He can do the job as long as we make sure he doesn't stay in it."

"Aye, aye, Ma'am!" House saluted and limped into Cuddy's office – after knocking on the door, naturally.

"Ah, Dr. House," Cuddy was being her absolutely most gracious self, which usually meant she was hanging on her temper by a very thin thread. "I'd like you to meet Sheridan J. Rawls and his assistant Ms. Forbes."

"Yes, Miss Hill was kind enough to inform me that they were here," House was being equally gracious – which ought to have made any sane person extremely worried, and since Cuddy was very sane, she did get worried. House did spare her a – genuinely – reassuring look. He was not going to rock her boat, just Sheridan's and that time wasn't here yet. "I hope you don't mind my interrupting your meeting?"

"Not at all," Sheridan J. Rawls was definitely nothing if not gracious himself – only in his case it was a practised manner. He was blond, brown-eyed and suave. Not quite as tall as House, but he certainly was very well groomed. In fact House had a fleeting thought wondering if Sheridan might have Athlete's foot in his nose! He didn't voice that thought, though, so Sheridan was able to go on with his sentence without delay. "I wanted to meet you anyway, Dr. House. This is my assistant Ms. Forbes."

Miss Forbes was obviously the pampered daughter of a wealthy family. She complemented her boss in every way from grooming to sleek red-hair and somewhat hard green eyes. She was stunning, but House didn't find her appealing in the least. There was something about her that reminded him of the woman he had once cured of the plague – he rather thought she, too, had been a read-head? He could easily see the five-letter word that was practically tattooed to Ms. Forbes' forehead. And it wasn't a pet name.

"Pleased to meet you," House decided to borrow a leaf from Grey's book and he kissed Ms. Forbes' hand, with enough elegance to make Cuddy stare. This was House! What the heck was he up to now?

"Dr. House," obviously Grey knew what he was doing when he went around kissing ladies hand, Ms. Forbes nearly blushed! And she sure was no shrinking violet. There was a definite hard edge to the young lady. "I'm so thrilled to finally meet the legend in person. I hope your daughter is now well?"

"Indeed, thank you for asking," House replied. "Though I'm sure the _legend_ part of my reputation is just the papers exaggerating. I was just doing my job." At those sanctimonious words Cuddy had a sudden fit of coughing, though she knew she was the only one who recognised the blatantly false modesty House was radiating. "Now, Mr. Rawls, Ms. Forbes, do you mind very much if I borrow Dr. Cuddy for just a tiny moment? I need her opinion on something medical, you know. If you don't mind?"

"No, no, of course not," Sheridan was happy to give his permission and Janelle was perfectly willing to accommodate the charming Dr. House, too.

House escorted Cuddy to the ante-room and they turned their backs to the glass walls so that the two people in the office could not see their faces.

"That was some display there," Miss Hill approved in a quiet voice.

"Thank you, Miss Hill," House accepted the compliment. "And I think you were right. At least there was a sudden surge of possessiveness coming from dear Sheridan when I soft soaped Ms. Forbes."

"That was my impression, too," Miss Hill agreed.

"While I'm happy to see you two in agreement over something, whatever it is," Cuddy interrupted them. "What was it you wanted to see me about House?"

"Nothing," House confessed. "I just thought you needed a break from those two before you exploded."

"Oh," Cuddy was a little disconcerted. "Well, you may have been right about that, so thank you. Not that that will help much. I'm stuck with them until I go on maternity leave."

"Surely not for 24/7?" House observed. "I mean, if the board decides to hire him as your assistant for starters then make him assist. Give him all the stupid jobs that you don't want to do or you find boring or stressful. Keep him away from all the important stuff by giving him all the routine things you normally have to do yourself. Start transferring the Dean's duties to Wilson; that ought to give you a few hours a day away from them. And transfer Miss Hill to Wilson, too, for the duration of your leave."

"I would really appreciate that," Anna told Cuddy. "If I stay here, Ms. Forbes will make me do all the work and take all the credit herself. Besides, I might end up murdering either of them."

"You think I could do that?" Cuddy hadn't had time to think since Sheridan had arrived with his assistant that morning without any warning.

"Have you already offered to show them round the hospital?" House asked.

"No, not yet," Cuddy frowned. "I was going to do that but then you arrived."

"Good, let Miss Hill do that and you use that time to call Stacy and check what you need to do now. I'm fairly sure that if the board hires Sheridan as your assistant then you will be his boss; I don't see how they could give him any kind of independent position as long as you are the Head of the Hospital." House pondered.

"I'll go in and tell them that the consultation will take longer than Dr. House originally thought and I'll offer to show them around," Anna told Cuddy suiting action to words. House escorted Cuddy out into the lobby and they withdrew into an empty examination room.

"You think that would work?" Cuddy was a little unsure.

"Check with Stacy," House suggested. "Though I don't see how it could not. Just find out what needs to go to the minutes of the meeting this time and I'm sure we can circumvent this manoeuvre by the enemy too."

"But if Wilson is not going to be in the meeting, how can we make sure the meeting goes as we want it to go?" Cuddy wondered.

"I'm sure Wilson is not the only one who wants you to stay in your job," House shrugged. "We'll just give him the necessary information to pass onto someone he thinks can act on our behalf. You do know that neither Forbes nor Taunton is that well liked."

"It could work," Cuddy nodded.

"Of course it will," House stated. "Then we just need to make sure we keep Sheridan busy and out of your hair till your maternity leave. Which reminds me; if we want to keep Ms Forbes out of Miss Hill's hair you need to get Wilson a bigger office for his stint as the Dean. His current room is barely big enough for him. No way can he have an assistant in it as well."

"There is a room in your corridor which could be redecorated to work as the Dean's office," Cuddy remembered. "I'll get to it as soon as I have called Stacy."

"Do that," House encouraged. "And try not to worry. We have this thing covered. Nobody is taking your job away from you."

"I hope you are right," Cuddy sighed. "But just for the record, even if someone does take my job away from me, the Trips are worth it."

"Say that again in ten years time, when they have turned your hair grey with their antics and you have yelled yourself hoarse at them for getting into any and every prank humanly possible," House smiled. "In fact, if they take after me at all, they will probably get into pranks you would not have believed humanly possible at all!"

"Oh, God!" Cuddy closed her eyes in despair. "You just had to remind me that they are yours, didn't you!"


	8. Sunny side up

"So what is the situation?" Chase wanted to know as House got back to the department of Diagnostics.

"They want to appoint Sheridan as the Assistant Head till Cuddy goes on maternity leave," House explained.

"That doesn't sound very good," Cameron frowned. "That's like telling her to teach her job to him and then step aside and let him take over – probably for good!"

"I believe that is the idea," House agreed. "But as Sheridan's assistant is a Ms. Forbes, can you wonder?"

"You mean she got the job for her boss because of ... Why?" Foreman wondered.

"Miss Hill suspects that she is sleeping with him," House said. "And I have to say I got some serious vibes from him when I made a mild pass at Ms. Forbes."

"He could have been just protective," Chase pointed out. "You know, like you are with Miss Tanaka."

"Kasumii is an infant," House dismissed the idea. "She needs someone to look after her. Ms. Forbes is a shark. Besides, the vibes I got were most definitely not Platonic."

"So what is the plan?" Foreman queried. "If Ms. Forbes is having an affair with the married Mr. Rawls, then I suppose her father will be more than willing to kick him to the curb for messing with his daughter – no matter how anyone else might view the situation."

"That would be my guess," House nodded. "And should it happen that Janelle can make Daddy Dearest take her side and believe in the _star-crossed- lovers_ crap she probably will try to feed him, I'm fairly sure her father-in-law will not buy it."

"Her father-in-law?" Cameron was puzzled.

"Ms Forbes decided to keep her own name even after her marriage," House paused for a dramatic effect. "To a Mr Taunton."

"She is married to Taunton's son?" Foreman exclaimed.

"Yep," House gloated. "So basically all we have to do is to give them enough rope and then watch them hang themselves! Preferably with some photographic evidence."

"That is good," Chase mused. "And it makes our job pretty easy."

"Not necessarily," Cameron frowned. "They may be discreet."

"Nobody is that discreet," House dismissed. "You certainly weren't."

"Neither I nor Chase were – or are – married," Cameron glared at House. "Rawls and Ms Forbes have much more to loose."

"But not that many places to go," Foreman pointed out. "If you want to be discreet you cannot check into any local hotels or anything. I'm fairly sure their affair so far has been conducted in their office and the occasional business trip. If they believe that nobody suspects them here, they are bound to carry on. We just need to catch them."

"I like the way you think Foreman!" House approved. "It seems I have been able to teach you something after all."

"Too bad it's nothing I really wanted to learn," Foreman observed dryly. "But catching them will still be a problem."

"We have time to figure that one out," House assured him. "Right now we need to be on our best behaviour and let Rawls believe that Cuddy is running a tight and problem-free ship."

"She is running a tight and problem-free ship," Cameron stated.

"True," House nodded. "If you take me out of the equation."

"He has a point," Chase observed. "If House behaves himself, then it's a problem-free ship, but he rarely does, so..."

"But for the next couple of weeks I will," House declared.

"Can you?" Foreman doubted.

"Yes," House promised. "It's important for the family that I do. Besides, I can fortify myself by thinking of all the fun I will have once Cuddy is on maternity leave and I have a free hand with Sheridan."

---------------------------

And indeed the rest of the week was problem free – unless you counted the egging of Sheridan's car. But most of the hospital did not see that as a problem, though everyone did wonder how it had been done and who was behind it. All the usual suspects were accounted for, after all. Or so everybody thought. They did fail to make some connections some might have thought obvious.

That morning Cuddy had felt too fragile to drive to work so she had taken a cab. Due to that she never found out that Sheridan had parked in her space until a security guard came to tell her that her car had been vandalised.

"My car?" Cuddy was puzzled. "How would you know that? I didn't drive here in my car today."

"Well, I'm sorry but one of my men came to tell me that the car on your parking space is covered in eggs. I just assumed it had to be your car."

"He must have meant a car next to my space," Cuddy said getting ready to go out and see the damage.

"Egged you said?" Sheridan – who was sharing Cuddy's office for the moment as the board didn't see the need to assign him an office of his own since he was going to take over from Cuddy anyway. Cuddy was not happy with the situation, but fortunately she found plenty of things to do all over the hospital while Sheridan did all the boring, routine stuff in her office. If any important donors or patients came by, Anna made sure they found Cuddy – where ever she might be.

"You sound worried?" Cuddy turned to Sheridan.

"It must be my car!" He exclaimed.

"In my parking space?" Cuddy asked sharply.

"Well, it's closer to the doors and since you didn't need it today, I was sure you wouldn't mind," Sheridan shrugged – lying through his teeth.

"You arrived before me," Cuddy remarked dryly.

"Did I?" Sheridan frowned. "I was quite sure you were already here when I arrived."

"Well, I don't know whose car it is then, if it isn't Dr Cuddy's," the security guard interrupted them. "But it definitely is covered in broken eggs. It's a real mess."

"Do you know who did it?" Cuddy asked. "Was he caught on security tape?"

"No, he wasn't Ma'am. The cameras sweep by that spot every three minutes and we didn't see anything anywhere on the parking lot. One minute the car was spotless, three minutes later it was covered in eggs."

Cuddy and Sheridan followed the guard to the crime scene and it was a sorry sight indeed. Sheridan's electric blue Mercedes had been spotless only that morning; now forlorn eggshells were scattered all over the car with half-dried yolks and egg white running haphazardly down the sides and windows. It looked like a flock of pigeons had flown over the car bombing it with eggs.

"Well, it rather looks like parking on my spot was not a very good idea today," Cuddy observed as she took in the damage – trying very hard not to laugh out loud. Whoever it was who had got Sheridan had her full approval, she only wished she could have been in on the planning. Her usual suspect was – naturally – House.

However, as the day wore on, all the usual suspects were accounted for. House had been in Wilson's office, with Miss Hill and Wilson, which took him out of the equation. Wilson, naturally, would have given him an alibi for just about anything, but nobody thought Miss Hill would condone childish pranks like the one done to Sheridan. There was just that air about her that made it impossible for one to think she would have stood quietly by while House and Wilson did something like that.

Blythe and Kasumii had been taking Aiko for her daily walk in the park – not that anyone really suspected them, but there was just the slightest possibility that House could have ordered Kasumii to do something like it. But she was taped on another security camera at the time of the incident leaving the hospital premises with Blythe and Grey, too, for the jogging park where they often took Aiko for an outing in her pram.

The ducklings had been having lunch in full view of half the hospital, and though they had been sitting outside, they had not left their table at all until they had finished their lunch and they most definitely had not been out of view during the three minutes when the incident had to have happened. Besides, with all the security cameras that were regularly sweeping the parking lot there was no way anyone would have gotten to the car, thrown the eggs and escaped without being caught in at least one of the cameras! Nobody had been on the parking lot at the appropriate time! And that included trained squirrels, monkeys or remote control toy helicopters. No matter how hard the security tried, they could not come with any suspects or even any clues as to who had done the deed. Of course, Cuddy did have a sneaking suspicion that they weren't trying too hard. Which was sort of heart-warming, but, on the other hand, she really couldn't allow something like this happen in her hospital. Besides, since nobody had any idea who it had been, there was not way of knowing for sure the intended victim had indeed been Sheridan and not her. So all in all she was happy that she had taken a cab that morning and Sheridan had made a "mistake" in his parking.

Of course had the security bothered to make a truly thorough and unbiased search for the perpetrators they might have found out that Dr Cameron had gone to the cafeteria kitchen to get two dozen eggs for a virus culture just that morning. And that she had actually used only three.

Also had they bothered to check the table where Drs Foreman, Chase and Cameron had had lunch they would have found out that though Dr Cuddy's parking space was not visible from it, the security camera that swept that area was. And had they asked other people who were lunching near by at the same time they would have found out that on the time of the egging Dr Chase had been on his mobile phone to someone.

The most important piece of information the investigation missed might have been the fact that though Dr House and Wilson and Miss Hill had been completely truthful about having been in Dr Wilson's office, they had failed to clarify that the office in question was Wilson's new, Dean of Medicine, office, which just happened to be located just about right above Dr Cuddy's parking space.

One other thing the security missed was that when Miss Hill was asked about the incident and the whereabouts of Drs House and Wilson her answer could have been interpreted in at least two ways. When the situation had been explained to her and they asked her if she knew anything about it, her response had been: "Do I look like someone who would cover a childish prank like that?" The security assumed the answer to that question was _no_, when in fact it ought to have been _Hell Yes!_

-----------------------------

Later that day the conspirators met in House's office.

"It seems we got away with it," House reported.

"Well I have to say it was a well planned attack," Wilson congratulated his friend.

"Indeed, it was," Miss Hill agreed. "But it would not have worked had not all followed the instructions so well."

"Right you are, Miss Hill," House acknowledged. "Chase, Foreman and Cameron, good reconnoitring. And you got the timing of that camera completely right. Nothing was caught on tape, not even the very last egg hitting the car."

"Thank you," Foreman accepted on all their behalf.

"We were more than happy to help," Chase nodded.

"Absolutely," Cameron agreed. "When I saw that man parking on Cuddy's space, as cool as cucumber, I was truly ready to give him what he deserved. I just hope he learned his lesson."

"If he didn't, we'll just repeat it," Miss Hill pointed out. "Only next time we might try tomatoes. Just for a change, you know."

"Do you think your throwing arm is as good with them as with eggs?" House asked her – letting the ducklings know who actually had done the honours.

"I'm sure, but I think, next time I might be willing to share the fun," Miss Hill smiled.

"Thanks, but I don't know it would work," House declined. "As the window is not quite in the right place, it would be a little awkward for me. My leg would be in the way were I to try and lean out of the window far enough to get a good aim."

"Dr Wilson?" Miss Hill queried.

"I don't know," Wilson shrugged. He had refused this time fearful of someone witnessing the event, but he had been tempted. "I'll have to decide if the opportunity rises again."

"Chicken," House jeered at him, though in good humour.

"I **am** a head of a department and I will be the temporary Dean of Medicine," Wilson argued. "I do have to maintain some dignity."

"You have House for a friend," Miss Hill observed dryly. "How much dignity do you expect to have?"

"As much as I can keep," Wilson sighed. "Which I know very well isn't much."


	9. Night prowling

_Thank you for the reviews and here is the next instalment!_

**--------------------**

Cuddy moved into the house on Friday. Not that she knew it at the time; she had been under the impression that the move would take place on the Saturday, but House, Blythe and Kasumii had watched her stress over it all ever since the move was decided and they came to the conclusion that it was best to surprise her with it. It was best for her, and it was best for the movers; chances were that someone would have been moved to murder had Cuddy been present when the men packed her things (the not personal items that Cuddy hadn't already packed with Blythe and Kasumii's help), wrapped protective mats round her furniture and generally got everything ready for the move – and then reversed it all at the house under the watchful eye of Gail, the interior decorator.

Once all the furniture and other things were in place and Gail had gone over the house and done the last checks – placing fresh flowers in vases and things like that – and she and the movers had left, Blythe and Kasumii unpacked the boxes that had been marked _private_ with a black marker. The boxes that had been marked _private_ with a red marker they left for Cuddy to unpack. Those were the things Cuddy didn't want anyone else to see. House, of course, had tried to divert those boxes into his flat, but Blythe had been alert for some devilry from him so that disaster had been avoided. Of course, had House not been at work when the move took place he might have succeed in his dastardly plan, but now the boxes were safely in Cuddy's room.

Once the move was complete, Blythe called House at work and House took Cuddy for a walk with him and Aiko (who was with him at work) and made a full confession. It was a good thing he had taken her out of the hospital, because – even with Aiko there – she had yelled at him for fifteen minutes about privacy and her right to make her own decision and his gall and presumption and nerve in making decisions on her behalf about things that should not have been any of his business and that he need not look so innocent she knew he was the one who egged Sheridan's car, and though she completely adored that action, he was still a doctor and a professional and she could not and would not condone such conduct from her doctors in her hospital, and God he was annoying and how dare he make her yell at him when Aiko was there, and there better be not a single scratch in any of her things and if someone had dared to unpack her personal items for her she was going to strangle House and to Heck with having a father for her kids, they would be better off without him anyway, since all he would teach them was disrespect and all sorts of stupid pranks and how to be a right royal pain in he ass! And darn it if Gregory junior wasn't kicking her in the kidneys again! And it was all House's fault. All of it.

"I thought he was supposed to be Trey?" House observed from his seat at the pick-nick table. He was sitting down holding Aiko in his arms (and Aiko was taking in the whole scene with wide eyes and interested silence; adults could be really funny sometimes – it was a good thing she was safe in her father's arms or it could almost get scary). Cuddy had paced the ground in front of him, but having thrown her last accusation at him she, too, had blobbed down on the bench.

"When he isn't kicking my kidneys he is," Cuddy replied accusingly.

"I see," House nodded. "So when the kids are born, you will call them my kids when they are naughty but they will be your kids when they are being little angels?"

"Since they **are** your kids," Cuddy sighed. "They will most definitely behave like little angels only when they are planning like little devils."

"Could be," House admitted. "But I still didn't egg Sheridan's car!"

"And I still don't believe you," Cuddy said. "You had to have something to do with it!"

"I was with Miss Hill!" House stated. "Ask her. Surely you don't believe even for a moment that she would lie for me, or even Wilson."

"I suppose," Cuddy relented.

"Now, what about this move?" House got back to the original subject. "Are you ok with it? Not that I can cancel it, but still."

"I don't like you taking over my life," Cuddy fretted.

"I have no intention of doing that," House reassured her. "But unfortunately as long as you are pregnant, your life cannot be entirely your own. You have to accept that sometimes we, not just me, but others around you, will conspire some things for your own good. You don't even realise how much you stress about some things, and we really don't want you to be forced to spend the rest of your pregnancy in bed. Especially not in a hospital bed, since being a patient in PPTH while Sheridan is running the hospital is the last thing you need."

"So once the trips are born I get my life back?" Cuddy asked with some suspicion.

"Yes," House confirmed. "Mind you, your health is still important, so if we see you behave stupidly we will talk to you, but conspiring behind your back will end."

"Ok then," Cuddy bit her lip and thought for a while. "Ok then. Fine. I'm fine. Not happy, but I'm fine."

"So, is G.J. really kicking your kidneys?" House asked after a short silence.

"No, he isn't quite that far along yet," Cuddy admitted. "But since there isn't a lot of room in there when one of the trips moves they all move and though at first it was thrilling it can get a little uncomfortable now. Here, try yourself." Cuddy took House's hand and brought it to her belly. Even through her clothes he could feel that there was some definite activity going on in there.

"I suppose it's a good thing they are fighters," House mused. "The world being what it is."

"Yeah, I suppose so," Cuddy agreed. "And they definitely seem to be healthy and active."

"Do you need to sit for a while still or are you ready to get back to the hospital?" House asked.

"I'm fine," Cuddy said standing up. "Let's get back to work."

----------------------------------

After work Cuddy followed House in her car to her new home. She was still a little apprehensive about living with House, even with the rules and parameters they had agreed on, but it was still best for the kids, so she supposed that they would work it out. Somehow.

Once she got to her room and had had time to go over the whole house now that everything was in place she felt that she could really make a home for herself and her children – it still blew her away to know that she was going to have children! In the plural. House had gone to his own flat right away leaving Cuddy to Blythe and Kasumii's care, but even they had let Cuddy go over the house alone. Once that was done the other women waited for Lisa in the kitchen with tea and cookies.

"So?" Blythe asked. "Are you mad at us?"

"No," Lisa told them. "House took me to the jogging park to tell me what had been done and I got all the yelling out of the way there. Aiko probably thought I had lost my mind, poor dear."

"I think she has already learned that her father can have that effect on people," Kasumii observed as she poured the tea.

"That would be my guess," Blythe agreed knowing full well the sort of son she had. Perfect though he might be.

"Well at least I found out that he didn't egg Sheridan Rawls' car," Cuddy sighed.

"He didn't?" Kasumii was surprised she had totally assumed House was behind that.

"Not that he wasn't involved," Cuddy amended. "He just didn't do the actual egging. It was only his plan once they decided to do it."

"Well I knew he was somewhere in there," Blythe shrugged. "So who was it? Miss Hill?"

"How...?" Cuddy turned to stare at Blythe. "Oh, silly me, House told you right?"

"No," Blythe denied. "He wouldn't do that. But if it wasn't him, then Miss Hill was rather the obvious other choice."

"Not obvious to me," Cuddy said. "I wouldn't have believed it had Anna not told me herself."

"Actually, it's not so incredible," Kasumii mused. "Once you think it through. She is loyal to you, and she doesn't like the power-games that Rawls obviously enjoys playing."

"Well one thing we will know for sure is that Sheridan Rawls will not set a foot in this house, so let's leave him behind – where he belongs." Blythe decided.

"Works for me," Kasumii said.

"Me too," Cuddy said lifting her cup of tea and the ladies toasted each others

------------------------

During Saturday Cuddy unpacked the final boxes and settled into her new life. It was a little awkward at first, because she wasn't used to sharing her house, but she did have her own room where she could hide if she needed. She knew there were a lot of things that she needed to adjust to, she knew that there were going to be difficulties – with House there always was – but she also knew that it would be ok. They would, somehow, make it. As House had said, there was no cancelling the Trips now; they would **have** to make it work. It would be alright.

That was, if she just could get some sleep! Cuddy couldn't find a comfortable position in her bed. It had nothing to do with having moved, since she had moved her bed with her, but it had everything to do with the extra passengers she was carrying around these days. She could not lie on her stomach, she could not lie on her back, and – it seemed – she couldn't lie on her side either. She did consider trying to sleep standing on her head, but that was just a wild thought. Whatever, she needed to go to the bathroom and then she needed something to drink. At least tomorrow was a Sunday, so she didn't need to go to work.

When Cuddy approached the kitchen she realised she wasn't the only one awake. The lights were on in there. She assumed that it was either Blythe or Kasumii but it turned out to be House who was raiding the fritz.

"I thought you had your own kitchen," Cuddy yawned.

"I do," House replied finishing his sandwich. "But it's empty. Besides, this floor was supposed to be common ground anyway."

"True," Cuddy nodded getting a glass and opening the fritz in search of something to drink. She settled for some apple juice. "I just didn't expect to find you here at this hour. Mind you, I didn't expect to be here myself at this hour."

"The Trips keeping you up?" House asked.

"Not exactly," Cuddy replied. "I just cannot find a comfortable position in my bed. That has been a problem for couple of weeks now."

"Your mattress is probably too soft," House observed. "Now that the pregnancy is moulding your spine to accommodate your tummy and the extra passengers you need a firmer bed. We better get you a new mattress tomorrow."

"Why didn't I think of that," Cuddy wondered. It was such an obvious solution.

"According to one theory pregnant women get less blood to their brains," House remarked waiting for Cuddy's reaction.

"You are telling me that being pregnant dumbs me down?" Cuddy gave him a dangerous glare.

"I just pointed out that a theory like that exists," House shrugged innocently.

"Yeah, right," Cuddy huffed. "I would really need to be stupid to believe that."

"You would need to be," House smiled. "If it comforts you any, I think that even dumbed down you are smarter than most people."

"Well, it does help a little," Cuddy relented. "But it doesn't make my bed any more comfortable for tonight."

"Come on," House said getting up. "You can sleep in my bed. My leg prefers a firm bed and I'm sure the Trips will be happy with it, too."

"If you give me your bed," Cuddy wondered. "Where are you going to sleep?"

"In my bed," House spelled out. "It's big enough for us both for one night. It was once before, after all."

"That was a once-in-a-life-time event," Cuddy put her back up.

"Relax," House told her. "You are nearly six months pregnant! Do you really think I would do anything you didn't want to? Mind you, if you want, I'm game. You and the _girls_ look eminently appealing. But it is entirely up to you. I'm perfectly happy to just sleep."

"Can I trust you?" Cuddy wasn't quite sure how to take House's offer.

"If that was a general question," House mused. "Then the answer is no. But if you were referring to this particular situation, then yes, you can."

Cuddy stared into House's eyes for a moment. She was tired and House was a friend, at least on some level, so probably she could trust him.

"And, in case you have forgotten, we do have my Mom to face tomorrow morning," House pointed out. "How badly do you think I would behave with her around?"

"You do have a point there," Cuddy had to admit.

"So?" House asked. "Are we having a sleep-over? We do have Aiko there as a chaperon if it's just appearances that you worry about."

"Aiko?" Cuddy repeated. "She is still sleeping in your room? I just assumed that now that she has a room of her own you would have her sleep there."

"I just thought it would be best to introduce her to the new sleeping arrangements gradually," House shrugged.

"Right," Cuddy smiled not believing him even for a second. "Ok, if Aiko is there to chaperon us, I guess it's ok. Fine, we'll have a sleep-over." Cuddy decided to follow House to his lair. She just hoped she was right in trusting him and didn't end up as the fly to his spider.


	10. Sleepover

_Thank you for your opinions, I'm glad you like this story. And I appreciate it that you took the time to tell me._

----------------------------------

Cuddy was feeling a little awkward when she followed House to his bedroom. She hadn't seen his flat since he had moved in and she was curious. But she did not want to appear nosy, so she didn't linger on her way to the bedroom. She got a general impression that Gail had decorated the place a lot like House's old place. The bedroom certainly had the same furniture as before. House had already opened a space for her and patted the mattress invitingly in passing as he made his way to a closet. He returned with two extra pillows and stood expectantly by the bed waiting for Cuddy to lie down.

"Coming?" He asked her with raised eyebrows. Cuddy bit her lip again, but since she was already this far it seemed stupid to hesitate now, so she walked to the bed, to the side House was waiting by and settled herself down on her side – fervently thankful that she was wearing a covering cotton nightgown. As she settled down House put one pillow under her head and the other he tucked between her knees, which immediately put her spine in a better position. He then tucked her in, almost like she was Aiko, which she found somewhat disconcerting – but reassuring. "Ok?" He asked and Cuddy nodded already feeling sleepy.

House checked on Aiko first and then he crawled in bed next to her. He flopped around for a moment to get the covers the way he wanted and then – to Cuddy's surprise – he settled against her back, spooning her.

"Oh!" Cuddy let out the sound almost unknowingly.

"Do you mind?" House asked sleepily. "It's not **that** big a bed so we are bound to bump into each other during the night, better get it out of the way immediately so we won't disturb each other later."

"No, it's ok," Cuddy muttered. "I just didn't expect you to be a spooner."

"I'm not really, but with your passengers there this is probably the most comfortable position to take," was the answer.

"So you only spoon with pregnant ladies?" Cuddy smiled.

"You got it, now shut up and sleep," House sounded like he was smiling too, but it was difficult to know for sure.

Cuddy took his advice and settled down to sleep; only she couldn't. All of a sudden she felt an overwhelming sense of comfort from feeling House breathe against her neck and the contrast to the loneliness she usually felt when waking up at night made her cry. Damn hormones!

"Are you crying?" She heard House's voice behind her. She tried to wipe the tears away and calm down but to no avail. House sighed: "What is it about my bed that every time I get you in it, you cry?"

"I'm pregnant," Cuddy snapped at him, though mildly.

"You weren't the last time," he pointed out.

"By the time I cried I was – or as good as," Cuddy countered.

"Ok, I have to give you that," House conceded. "But even pregnant ladies need some reason to cry, no matter how small. So what is it? If not my bed."

"It's just ..." Cuddy sniffed and sighed and sniffed and got her voice under control – and she could have sworn she felt a small kiss against her hair, but decided that if it wasn't her imagination she better ignore it. Anyway real or not, it got her to calm down enough to speak. "I know you promised to be there for me with the kids, and I know that even if you run for the hills all of a sudden, your mother would be here for me and there's Wilson and Kasumii and any number of people I wouldn't have even believed would be there for me when I first thought about having a child. So I know that I'm not alone, that I have no need to be extra scared or even worry about what is going to happen to my children if something happens to me. I really know that I'm not alone..."

"Except that you are," House surprised her with his understanding. "And of course you are! You are the only one who is pregnant. There are only so many things that others can share with you or help you with right now. And all that does crash in on you in the still of the night, when you are alone in your bed and there is nobody you can wake up and help you take your mind off it."

"Yeah, that's it exactly," Cuddy agreed. "Only now I'm not alone, you really are here, like you promised and somehow that makes me sad!"

"You feel the contrast between this night and what is normally your situation," House mused. "Was this a bad idea? Is this making things worse for you in the long run? Because we cannot have many nights like this and not have _something_ happen between us, no matter how pregnant you are."

"No, no, this is fine, it's just my hormones," Cuddy was not going to give up her position now. She might feel sad and weepy now but she knew that that would pass soon enough and her back loved House's bed! No way was she moving now. Not until she had similar mattress in her own bed.

"It's not just that, is it?" House asked. It seemed that the night and the darkness – and possibly the fact that they weren't face to face – got him into an open mood, too. Not that he was opening up about himself, just more concerned about her. "You are also wondering if once you are a mama of three, you will ever get anyone share a bed with you in a more permanent way. Your career has been in the way before, but I cannot see how you could fail to find someone who will appreciate the woman you are. Men may be pigs but not all of them are idiots."

"No, I know they are not," Cuddy sighed. "But that exactly has been the problem so far."

"What do you mean?" House was puzzled.

"You remember Don Herrick?" Cuddy asked. House made a negative sound so she went on. "The Oil man."

"Oh, your Funny Valentine," House was suddenly on the same page again. "What happened to him? I never saw him again and you seemed to like him? What did he do to make you ditch him?"

"I didn't ditch him," Cuddy revealed. "He ditched me."

"Then he was an idiot," House stated. For a second Cuddy considered turning around and checking it really was House in bed with her, because he was never this nice to her. Well, almost never. "Did he even tell you why?"

"Yeah, you," Cuddy said simply.

"Me?" House was taken aback. "He ditched you because of two interruptions from me? He cannot have been that insecure or timid. You would have spotted it earlier on and not have met him at all."

"No, the reason he gave was that I was everything he wanted," Cuddy paused before delivering the punch line. "When I was with you!"

"He wanted a three-some?" House suggested a little startled.

"No, silly," Cuddy had to laugh. "No. He said that he didn't know if it was you or my job or just me loving arguments but when he saw me with you I was focused, and vibrant and alive. Intensely alive. That was the woman he wanted to know, and – not being an idiot - he knew he wasn't going to. So he said: thanks and no hard feelings."

"Hmm, I suppose one has to respect a man for knowing his own mind," House mused. "Sorry, had I known ..."

"You would still have screwed up my date," Cuddy finished for him.

"Probably," House admitted. "So what was it? Me or your job or arguing?"

"Darn if I know," Cuddy sighed. "Though I never feel as alive as when I'm arguing with you. You challenge me like nobody else. I just haven't figured out if I hate it or like it. But it does get addictive."

"Like Vindaloo curry," House remarked dryly.

"Vindaloo curry?" Cuddy wondered.

"That's what Stacy called it. I'm like really hot curry that burns your mouth and makes you swear that you never want to eat curry again," House explained. "Only, then one morning you wake up and feel that you really want some curry."

"I suppose we have to agree that she probably knew what she was talking about," Cuddy nodded. "Besides I know what she means. You are like fire, intensely fascinating, but get too close and get burned. The only one who seems to be immune to it is Wilson."

"That's because Wilson doesn't really know what he is risking," House sighed. "On one level he knows me better than anyone, but on another – he doesn't know the first thing about me. Which, I suppose is the reason why we are friends."

"That's screwed up," Cuddy observed.

"That's me," House agreed. "Now, are you going to try and sleep anytime tonight or...?"

"Sleep," Cuddy voted. "But I want that new mattress tomorrow."

"We'll make it happen," House promised as they slowly drifted to sleep.

------------------------------

Next morning House woke up early, both Aiko and Cuddy were still asleep. He checked the time and realised it was close to the time his mother usually woke up and went into the kitchen to start on the breakfast. He got out of the bed - managing it without waking Cuddy – and made his way to the main kitchen where Blythe indeed was mixing a pancake batter.

"Greg!" Blythe exclaimed. "You're up early. Is your leg bothering you or is something wrong with Aiko?"

"No, no, everything is fine," House responded pouring himself a glass of juice. "It's just that... Could you go and get some clothes for Cuddy from her room. Sweats, something, anything."

"Why would I do that?" Blythe was a little confused at the request. "Isn't she in her room?"

"No," House confessed. "Her mattress is too soft now that she is pregnant – which reminds me we need to find her a new one today – so she is asleep in my bed now. Only since I found her here in the middle of the night she doesn't have anything to change into once she gets up."

"Oh," Blythe couldn't help it but she experienced a small flare of hope: maybe her son had found happiness after all. House, of course read his mother like a book.

"No, Mom, we have not moved in **together**," House clarified. "We just slept in the same bed. Friends can do that sometimes when necessary, and it was necessary because Cuddy's back was killing her. Besides, she is nearly six months pregnant! Just think: how horny were you when ... you ... were ... that ... far..." House's voice slowed and died down as – totally fascinated – he watched a deep crimson tide make its way up his mother's neck and face probably covering her from her toes to the top of her head. House closed his eyes and shook his head: "Shit! I may have just scarred myself for life!"

"Gregory," Blythe was still red, but she was a grown woman and capable of speaking to her son – even about anything. "You don't need to take that attitude. Surely you knew a stork didn't bring you!"

"Mom, its one thing to assume that your parents have a sex life," House didn't choke on those words; he just looked like he wished he could. "Or even to hope, academically, that it was and is a satisfying one. This, however, is different. This is too much information. Besides _I was there!_"

"No you weren't," Blythe insisted. "You were, now what is it you say – yes, you were just a _parasite_. Long before you were _you_."

"Theoretically I agree," House grimaced. "But sometimes theory just doesn't cover everything. However, that was not supposed to be the subject of this morning's conversation. Let's get back to Cuddy and her wardrobe, please."

"Fine, I'll go get something for her to wear," Blythe relented. "Will you wait here or...?"

"I'll be here, but I think it would be better if you took the clothes to her," House mused. "Since I don't want to keep her visit a secret – especially as nothing worth hiding happened anyway, it might be best if you two can talk about it in private. She might have a thing or two to say about me that she wouldn't want to say when I'm around."

So that was why Cuddy woke up to find Blythe in House's bedroom with some clothes for her. Aiko wasn't there anymore as she had been waking up when Blythe got there and she had carried the baby to House to mind.

"Greg asked me to bring you some clothes," Blythe smiled. "He thought it would be nicer for you than trailing through the house in your nightgown. And don't worry, he told me what happened."

"Thank you, Blythe," Cuddy tried to shake the last remnants of sleep from her as she sat up. She had to say that she hadn't slept this well since she got pregnant. "I wish I had realised what was wrong with my bed myself. I would have arranged for a new mattress sooner. I hope House got some rest, too. Is he ok? His leg?"

"He is fine," Blythe smiled. "He is taking care of Aiko's morning routines."

"So Kasumii stayed with Grey again last night?" Cuddy smiled. She liked the young couple – especially since both had made it clear that there was no chance Kasumii would not stay on as a Nanny to Aiko and the Triplets.

"Hmm," Blythe confirmed. "They are coming later to spend the Sunday with us, as, I suppose, are the others, too. Or at least most of them."

"I still find this idea of open house that House has here a little hard to believe," Cuddy wondered. "It's almost like a parallel universe."

"Not really," Blythe revealed. "This was the way our home was when he was a child. He put up with it because of me, now he is doing it for the children. Besides, he does have his lair to retire to if people start getting on his nerves."

"Do you think we can make this work?" Cuddy wanted to know Blythe's opinion.

"Yes," Blythe was sure. "It will take work, make no mistake, but I believe that since you are both willing to do the work, it will be ok. Not easy, but you'll be fine."

"Thank you," Cuddy smiled. "Sometimes I just need to be reassured."

"And Greg isn't necessarily the most reassuring person around, is he," Blythe sighed.

"No," Cuddy agreed. "But he has his moments, when he wants to. Thank you for the clothes. I'll get dressed and come to the kitchen for breakfast soon."

"Good," Blythe nodded. "See you then. I'm sure Greg has got Aiko ready by then too."


	11. Sunday tea

Blythe had been right, everybody did converge at the house again for the Sunday afternoon; even Miss Hill came over. Anna had originally been a little hesitant about accepting Blythe's invitation but after the egging incident House had confirmed her welcome, so she had decided to show up.

The first to arrive, however, had been Kasumii and Grey. Kasumii, naturally, lived in the house, so she really didn't need any reason to be there, but given that Sunday was supposed to be her day off, her bringing Grey there instead of staying in his place or going somewhere else altogether said quite a lot about the family that had formed itself around Aiko – and now the expected Trips. On their arrival Grey wanted to have a word with House and Cuddy.

"Look, I think I could go and give you a big speech about my feelings for Kasumii and try and make a case for myself, but you know all that and I don't want to waste any time," Grey said to House. "We've been through all that one way or another. The thing I need to know, **we** need to know, is: what is your policy about Kasumii having me stay with her overnight?"

"Well, I'm not sure we have any say in that," Cuddy mused.

"In our house, yes we do," House stated. "If we have rules for each other – not that we are going to enlighten you two about those – then we definitely have rules for the Nanny of our children, too."

"You seem to have thought this out," Cuddy observed. "So go on, have the floor. I'll let you know if I disagree."

"Am I correct in assuming that you two think you are going to be together for _forever and a day_?" House asked Grey and Kasumii.

"I want to grow old with her," Grey declared simply.

"And I like that idea very much," Kasumii agreed taking Grey's hand.

"So where do you live now?" House asked Grey.

"Actually I live in the same hotel that Dr Wilson used to live in until he moved into your old flat," Grey said. "Until I met Kasumii I wasn't sure I wanted to stay in New Jersey and since then I haven't had time to look for a flat."

"So your present location wouldn't be an ideal place to take a girl to," House nodded. "Especially if you are serious about her."

"Not ideal," Grey agreed. "But not impossible either. Besides I can get a flat for myself. Your decision will not make or break our relationship, we just need to know."

"Ok, then," House took his time to answer the question. "The main rule of this house is that the children come first. What is good for them is good for the rest of us and what is bad for them is not tolerated. What doesn't fall into those two categories is up to you. I don't want the kids to be introduced to a series of aunts or uncles but since you two are planning to stick together, I see no problem with Grey staying over."

"That's ok with me, too," Cuddy said.

"In fact," House went further than expected. "If Kasumii has no problem in sharing her room with you, you can even move in. In time! Not right now. We have enough adjusting to do as it is, but in a month or two, once we see how things settle down here, we can discuss that again."

"You're sure?" Grey was surprised at the permission.

"No," House replied. "But I'm willing to consider it and, as I said, discuss it again in a couple of months."

"And if you want," Blythe had walked in on the conversation, too. "You can stay in Neffie's flat till then. We were going to go on paying her rent till she returns even though I don't live there anymore, but I'm sure she won't mind if you take it over for a few weeks. She will return from Europe in seven weeks or so."

"Neffie?" Grey wondered.

"The young artist who lives upstairs in Greg's old building," Blythe explained. "She went to Europe for six months or so on a scholarship and agreed to rent her flat furnished to me as long as I took care of her paintings and things."

"That's..." Grey was a little lost for words. "That would be nice, I'm sure."

"If you can stand living so close to Wilson," House inserted a little derogatorily.

"I think I can survive his proximity," Grey surmised dryly.

----------------------------------------

Later, when Chase and Foreman arrived – Wilson, Anna and Cameron had already arrived a little earlier – Blythe met them at the door and led them to the kitchen; she needed them to carry things to the back yard.

"And beware of Greg," Blythe told them a little ruefully as she gave them platters of goodies to carry to the pick-nick table outside.

"More than usual?" Chase asked.

"Yes, more than usual," Cuddy confirmed as she took a tray full of cutlery to carry.

"What is the matter with him, then?" Foreman wondered. He couldn't imagine how House could be worse than usual – surely his leg hadn't suddenly started to hurt more than it had lately.

"He is having an allergic reaction," Kasumii told them as she took a pitcher full of ice-tea from the fritz.

"What is he allergic to?" Chase was surprised. He had thought House was too superhuman to suffer from something as mundane as allergies.

"I'm pregnant and stressing so he has been nice to me, and he was all yesterday and all off today," Cuddy told them. "When Grey and Kasumii got here he was nice to them. He is always nice to Blythe..."

"I get it," Chase nodded. "He is breaking into mental hives over having been too nice for too long."

"Exactly!" Cuddy confirmed.

"Well, I'm surprised he managed to be nice even as long as you said," Foreman noted as he followed Kasumii outside – with Chase, Cuddy and Blythe following him.

Kasumii made a detour on her way to the pick-nick table stopping by House to ask if there was anything she needed to do for him or Aiko – who was resting contentedly against his Daddy, who was lying prone on the grass talking with Wilson. Blythe, Cuddy, Chase and Foreman went straight to the table and as they set down their burdens they saw House say something to Kasumii in response to her question. The answer made Kasumii give House a very angry glare. She bent down, set the pitcher of tea on the grass, took Aiko from House and gave her to Grey, who had come over to see what was going on, and then she picked up the tea again and poured it all over House without a word.

Spluttering House jack-knifed into a sitting position and there was a moment of absolute silence. Then, when everyone realised what had happened and were just about to burst into laughter they were silenced by a shriek of absolute fury from Aiko. She struggled against Grey's hold screaming at the top of her lungs and when Kasumii tried to take her she actually batted her hands away from her. House was startled enough to forget totally his own discomfort and he motioned Grey to give Aiko to him, which Grey did.

"It's ok," House crooned to Aiko. "I'm fine, no harm done. It's just tea, here, taste." House rubbed his finger against his cheek gathering some tea on his finger then giving it to Aiko to taste. "It's fine. I'm fine. Really. Kasumii didn't do anything wrong. I'm fine. Just fine."

Kasumii got down to her knees next to House and tried to reach Aiko, but Aiko absolutely refused to even look at her. She clung to House and made small, distressed sounds. House tried to make her at least look at Kasumii, but he was unsuccessful for quite a while, finally he succeeded in calming Aiko and got her to listen to him. Aiko still refused to communicate with Kasumii, but at least she was no longer clinging so desperately to House.

"Come on, Little Love," House was almost as distressed as Aiko. He totally ignored his wet clothes and the fact that he was also getting Aiko's clothes all wet. "Nothing bad happened. Just some horseplay between adults. You know we sometimes behave idiotically, it's just what adults do."

It took some fifteen minutes for House to finally get through to Aiko and in the end he actually had to kiss Kasumii on the cheek to make Aiko finally accept that Kasumii hadn't done anything bad to her Daddy. He even managed to get Aiko to kiss Kasumii, too. After some more conversation Aiko finally agreed to let Kasumii take her inside to change her clothes – she had got all wet from the tea that had saturated House's clothes – and House, too, went inside to change.

"We didn't just see that, did we," Chase commented to Foreman.

"Well, we saw something," Foreman stated cautiously. "But we couldn't possibly have seen what we thought we saw. I mean, Aiko is a smart baby, but her cognitive development is not far enough for her to have concluded that Miss Tanaka was hurting House. Most babies would not have even properly noticed what happened as it wasn't involving them directly and even most toddlers would have thought it was just funny. For her to conclude... Well there is no way she could have _concluded_ anything at all. There is no way that what we saw actually happened. It has to be all in our minds."

"Yeah," Chase doubted. "I think someone forgot to tell that to Aiko."

---------------------

Some fifteen minutes later House had had a shower and he was wrapped in a towel trying to find some clothes to wear. Because of his leg and being one handed due to the cane it always took him longer to rummage through his closet and drawers than before his injury. Therefore when Kasumii knocked on his door he was still in the early stages of changing his clothes.

"House?" Kasumii's voice sounded from the door between the main house and his flat. "Aiko is still fretting, can I come in? Are you decent?"

"Never," House grumbled back. "But the important bits are covered so you can bring Aiko in. Just carry her to the bedroom."

Kasumii walked in and settled Aiko in to her crib. Aiko sat up in it, but the sides kept her safe and Kasumii handed her Mr Panda to explore, so she was ok as long as she was able to hear House's voice. Kasumii was about to leave, when she glanced at House and frowned.

"You have gained weight, haven't you?" She asked.

"So what?" House frowned back.

"That's not good for your health," Kasumii concluded. "I know you have cut down on greasy foods, and your alcohol, of course, but it seems you still eat too much fat and probably too much carbohydrates. Your weight gain probably indicates elevated cholesterol levels, too, and that is not good news for either your liver or your heart."

"You are Aiko's Nanny, not mine," House grumbled.

"Yes, I am Aiko's Nanny," Kasumii agreed. "But you just said this morning that what is bad for the babies is not to be tolerated and you dying sooner than you have to, because of your eating habits is bad for the babies! I'll have a word with your mother." With that Kasumii left House to splutter in indignation.

"Now that was mean," House told Aiko. "That is what you should be protesting against, not some ice-tea!"

--------------------

The rest of the Sunday went comfortably. House joined the others with Aiko and the tea incident was ignored totally. Aiko did receive some strange looks from the doctors but once House forced them all to play at least one round of fish with her, everybody forgot the strange connection Aiko seemed to have with her father. All the attention soon exhausted Aiko and House took her inside to have a nap. After a while Blythe followed him. She found him sitting on his bed and watching Aiko.

"What is it Greg?" Blythe had noticed her son had been unusually pensive all afternoon.

"Nothing much," House sighed. "I just thought I would have more control."

"Control?" Blythe wondered.

"Yeah," House nodded. "I thought I could pick and choose. That I could decide what changes I had to make and what I didn't. And when I had to make them. I knew that having Aiko meant that I had to make some changes, like starting to take better care of myself and accepting more people into my everyday life than I comfortably wanted to. But I was wrong. Aiko is the one who decides what changes I need to make and when."

"What do you mean?" Blythe asked. "What changes are you talking about? Because as far as I can see you have made huge changes and Aiko has been your main concern ever since she came into your life. This house, Lisa, Kasumii, even accepting Grey – you have been quite amazingly ready to change."

"Yeah," House didn't sound very convinced. "Really amazing. I have been willing to change my environment and I have been willing to put up with things but I haven't really tried to change myself. And I need to."

"I'm still in the dark, son," Blythe said.

"What happened today cannot happen again," House sighed. "I cannot provoke Kasumii to retaliate. It distressed Aiko. And when there are four children in the house I cannot treat Kasumii and Cuddy quite the way I'm used to treating them. They are adults and they can handle anything I throw at them, but that does not matter to the children. If I appear to undermine Cuddy and Kasumii and their authority – no matter how well they can handle it and how well they can put me in my place – that will affect the children and the way they behave. I need to show respect, not just have it."

"You are talking about how Aiko reacted to Kasumii dousing you with the tea," Blythe realised.

"Yeah," House confirmed. "Aiko is not old enough to understand that I provoked it. She reacted to just what she saw. I cannot cause her similar distress again. And there is no saying how the trips would react in similar situation. And as Kasumii just reminded me – though in different context – I'm the one who made the rule that what is bad for the children will not be tolerated. So I have to change. I just don't know how!"

Blythe came over to sit by her son. She kissed him consolingly on the cheek and told him: "You will figure it out. You always figure things out especially when they are important. And because of Aiko and the Trips this is important, you will figure it out. I promise you."


	12. Questions and some answers

_Thank you again for your kind words!__ And please, ask if something I wrote left you wondering, if possible I will fit an explanation into the story - unless I meant to leave you wondering :). _

------------------------------

Monday afternoon Cuddy came to see House. She found him on the floor of his office listening to music while Aiko contentedly crawled all over him pretending to be a mountain climber or something. House occasionally pulled her back towards him when she was heading too far away from him and his reach, but other than that she was free to do as she chose – even when it meant poking her Daddy's nose and pulling his hair (though there he did protest telling her that he didn't have any to spare). Cuddy watched them for a moment imagining three more little people into the picture; she was beginning to believe that they really could make it without screwing up the kids too bad. However, that could wait; she had come here for a reason.

"House," Cuddy called for his attention. He opened his eyes and looked at her questioningly – he knew he had done his clinic duty for the day! Cuddy smiled. "I got a call, the paperwork went through. Dr Higa is now attached to PPTH as a quest lecturer and a consultant in the international programme that is being set up for our students."

"Great!" House got up into a sitting position carefully taking Aiko with him. "Did you hear that Little Love? Your grandpa is coming over to see you soon. How soon, Cuddy?"

"Well all the papers are in order, so anytime he can get ready," Cuddy shrugged. "I thought you could call him and find out."

"And it's ok with you that he lives in the house?" House checked again.

"It's your house," Cuddy reminded him. "You can invite in anyone you want."

"You cannot take that attitude Cuddy," House shook his head at her. "Just because I bought the house with the money I got in compensation from Landis does not mean it isn't as much your house now that you live in it."

"You mean that I have to take my position as _the mistress of the house_ seriously?" Cuddy smiled.

"As long as you don't write that _house_ with a capital letter!" House reminded her. "You order me about quite enough at work; don't get any ideas of being able to do it at home, too."

"I'm not that successful at it even at work," Cuddy grumbled.

"You have been lately," House pointed out distracting Aiko from poking his eyes by making a fish-face.

"Yes, I have," Cuddy agreed. "That does worry me a little. What are you up to?"

"Nothing," House replied innocently – managing to distract Cuddy, too, a little, with his play with Aiko. "I just want you to have a chance to get everything in order before your maternity leave. You don't need any distractions from me right now. You know I can behave when I want to."

"I know you can," Cuddy replied. "You just usually don't want to, so this is making me a little suspicious. You are planning something! You are not going to egg Sheridan's car again, are you?"

"I didn't do it the first time," House reminded her. "And if he stays out of your parking space his car will be safe."

"Ok, then," Cuddy nodded, though she didn't really believe him. He was up to something, but obviously she had to wait and see what it was. Before Cuddy had time to try another tack to get the answers she still wanted Blythe came into House's office, too.

"I got a call from John," Blythe said as soon as she arrived. She knew that the blunt approach was usually the best with her son.

"What did he want?" House asked. "Or was it about those therapy sessions he didn't want?"

"In a way," Blythe nodded. "I told you before that he wants to come over and talk with me. Well, he is coming over tomorrow. He'll stay around for about a week and we try to get some talking done. Both just between ourselves and with my therapist."

"And where is he staying?" House queried cautiously.

"In a hotel I imagine," Blythe said.

"Are you sure that works? Or is that what you want?" House wanted more information. "I'm not suggesting that having him in your flat would be a good idea, but if you think it would help things to have him stay in the house, I'm ok with it. If it's ok with Lisa, of course."

Cuddy was a little startled to have House call her by her first name, but responded nevertheless: "I'm ok with it, if you are and if Blythe thinks it would help. Only, what about Dr Higa?"

"If Dad stays in the ground floor guest room Dr Higa can stay in my flat until Dad leaves," House shrugged. "That way he would be closer to Aiko, too."

"So Aiko is not going to be sleeping in her own room any time soon?" Blythe nearly smirked. She, too, had placed a bet on House keeping Aiko with him even after their move to the house.

"She's too small yet," House mumbled. "I'll move her in there gradually. Besides, she did sleep in it the night I had to stay in hospital with a patient."

"Once," Cuddy pointed out. "That is not really introducing her to it gradually. She spent couple of nights in my house, too, and I'm sure she didn't think even for a moment that she would be staying."

"Aiko is still a baby," House reminded her. "At just shy of seven months she isn't thinking anything is going to be permanent – or not permanent. Her cognitive processes are not very complicated as yet."

"True," Cuddy agreed. "Only, I have to admit, that with Aiko I have started to doubt the theories somewhat. She just seems to know more than she is supposed to."

"That's because she is a very smart little girl," House concluded proudly. "But that is beside the point now; we were supposed to talk about Dad's visit."

"Not much to talk about yet," Blythe told Cuddy and House. "I'm glad you are willing to put him up if I want it, I'll think about it and let you know before we leave for home today."

"That works," House accepted. He was still sitting on the floor making occasional fish-faces to Aiko to keep her entertained during the adult conversation.

Cuddy looked at him speculatively. He couldn't move because he was holding Aiko and his cane was leaning against the desk. He was pretty much captive audience right then and Cuddy decided to take advantage of the fact: "One more thing, House, before we leave you alone."

"What?" House asked unaware of any danger.

"We want to know what made Miss Tanaka douse you with that tea?" Cuddy didn't really ask, she was demanding an answer. House looked up seeing two expectant faces look down on him. He assessed his chances of escape and saw there were none.

"I just ... arh ... I just told her that she looks pretty in pink," House coughed a little embarrassed.

"She wasn't wearing anything pink," Blythe mused, but then she suddenly had a mental picture of House lying on the grass and Kasumii standing close by. She gave House a glare: "Or was she?"

"Apparently she was," House mumbled.

"Apparently? You are not sure?" Cuddy wondered.

"I didn't actually peek," House confessed. "But pink is her favourite colour and it's rare to see her without something pink on her, even if it's only a hairclip. I didn't see any so I just took a wild guess."

"You are talking about looking up her skirt!" Cuddy yelled outraged.

"I told you – and incidentally I have told her, too, last night, that I didn't look," House defended himself. "I was just jerking her chain. It was a wild guess!"

"Which hit the jackpot _apparently_," Blythe concluded dryly.

"Yep," House nodded shamefacedly – after all his mother was there.

"You really are a pig," Cuddy stated.

"Uhhmmm ... I'd say more a piglet only, as I really, really, really didn't look!" House sort of agreed.

"You did apologize?" Blythe asked pointedly.

"Apparently," House parroted again. "At least she forgave me."

"You really do need to start mending your ways," Blythe sighed. "And don't say _apparently_ again!"

"No, I won't say that," House smiled ruefully. "You can just assume it."

"I have to say, you deserved that tea," Cuddy stated. "In fact, you were lucky that Aiko took exception to that action or you might have ended up even worse off. Had Grey heard you, you might have needed the services of a doctor."

"Well I had a yard full of them, so it wasn't that much of a risk," House pointed out.

"Only there is a distinct chance that none of them would have helped you," Blythe suspected.

"Oh, it's more than a chance," Cuddy confirmed. "Of course you did have a miniature bodyguard so I suppose we will never know for sure what would have happened."

"Yeah, my girl," House gave Aiko a kiss. "She will always have my back!"

"You need her to cover your front and sides, too, if you mean to go on as you have," Cuddy prompted.

Before House could start properly defending himself – if that was what he was going to do – his phone rang. Cuddy checked that caller ID and as it was Miss Hill (or actually the ID read _dragon calling, _Cuddy mused that she didn't really want to know what House had coded for her number!) Cuddy took it.

"Good, you were the one I was trying to reach," Anna said immediately as she heard Cuddy's voice. "There is a bit of a commotion going on down here, so you are needed."

"What has happened?" Cuddy put the call on the speaker.

"Well, first of all it appears that Rawls has ordered some supplies that don't do what they are supposed to do – at least they have made Brenda come here to yell at him and, well," Anna paused for a second and House got a distinct sense that she did it to stifle a laugh. "If House is listening he better get his butt down here, too. Ms Forbes has broken out in hives without any apparent reason. And considering who her father is..."

"We better get our best doctor on her case," Cuddy concluded. "Fine, we're coming."

"Goodness," House simpered as he got up and gave Aiko to Blythe. "It seems that dear Sheridan is in trouble again. And what could possibly have happened to Ms Forbes?"

"If you had anything to do with this," Cuddy turned to stare at House. "So help me, I will make you sorry!"

"You have to prove that I had something to do with it, first," House reminded her. "Besides, once again, I'm completely innocent. It's quite possible that Sheridan has just made an honest – ok, it's still Sheridan so it may be a dishonest, but you get my point – mistake. As for Ms Forbes, she could just be sick. You know, it happens. Being a doctor you ought to know that."

"But you have been planning something ever since they got here," Cuddy insisted. "And I'm not talking about the plan we have for protecting my job. I'm talking about you wrecking havoc in my hospital!"

"Relax Cuddy," House tried to reassure her. "I'm not planning anything too bad. And whatever Miss Hill's call was about, it wasn't me. Things do happen around here even if I don't plan them. I'm not god, you know."

"Ok, I suppose," Cuddy relented. "But I will get to the bottom of it. Whatever it is. Come on, we better get going before Ms Forbes gets worse."

"Coming," House gestured her to lead the way. "Mom, Kasumii should be back from her lunch in ten minutes or so, can you stay with Aiko?"

"Of course," Blythe smiled. "Besides, your team is just next door so if I need help, I'll call them."

"Thanks Mom," House responded as he limped after Cuddy who was already at the lifts.


	13. Chocolate, sweet chocolate

When House and Cuddy got to Cuddy's office Brenda was just about to leave but seeing Cuddy she decided to stay long enough to explain her complaint. They went into Cuddy's office – where Sheridan was camped also, for now. House stayed in the ante-room with Miss Hill and Ms Forbes.

Ms Forbes was covered in ugly red blotches. Apart from looking miserable and quite clearly trying not to scratch the rash, she seemed ok.

"That looks like an allergic reaction," House observed taking her pulse and touching her face to check for fever. "Pulse is normal and you don't seem to be feverish, though we better take your temperature just in case. Any known allergies you have?"

"I'm allergic to chilli and other capsicums, but that's it," Janelle told him.

"I presume you are smart enough to avoid them?" House queried.

"Yes, of course," Janelle huffed.

"So we can assume that you haven't eaten anything that could possibly contain chilli," House nodded. "And that is the only allergy you know you have?"

"Yes, that's the only one," Janelle nodded.

"Ok, so what have you eaten within the last half an hour or so?" House wanted to know.

"A sandwich I made myself at home, some coffee and a piece of chocolate," Janelle shrugged.

"Chocolate?" Miss Hill was suddenly all attention. She immediately went to her desk and checked the drawer. "You ate my chocolate! The chocolate I specifically told you I wasn't going to share and which I locked in my drawer when I went to have my own lunch. You broke into my desk and ate my chocolate!"

"No I didn't," Janelle denied. "I had my own chocolate with me."

"Then why am I missing two pieces?" Anna asked archly. "Do you think I'm stupid as well as fat? Do you think I can't count? Besides, your lips may say no, but the blotches all over you say _hell yes_!"

"You put chilli in your chocolate?" Janelle was outraged. "Are you trying to poison me?"

"Well had I known that you are a petty thief I would not have brought chocolate to work," Anna sniped. "Now that I do, I'll make sure to keep my treats at home."

"That's it? You're not going to apologise for having caused this?" Janelle yelled. "You make me all blotchy and itchy and you're not even going to apologise?"

"I wasn't the one who shoved that chocolate down your throat," Anna yelled back. "I specifically told you not to take any. So hell no, I'm not apologising. You're the one who should apologise but I guess I can let it pass as you really do look horrid."

"Ladies," House intervened. "All this shouting is not going to make the blotches go away. So may I suggest that Ms Forbes takes this prescription, fills it at the pharmacy and goes home? You ought to be fine by tomorrow."

"Fine," Janelle snapped snatching the paper from House and storming out after gathering her purse and coat. "Don't think this is the end, though, Miss Hill. I'm telling my father how you treated me and we'll see how long you last on your post."

Once they were sure Ms Forbes was out of earshot – and that Sheridan was still busy with Cuddy and Brenda – House turned to Miss Hill: "How did you know about her allergy?"

"Her father came by to see her last week," Anna smiled. "I made a point of telling him how delightful his daughter was and how nice it was to have someone like her in the same office with me. He was happy to take me into the cafeteria for a cup of coffee and some reminiscing. Of course he is under the impression that his daughter has outgrown her childish ways of wanting whatever someone else has."

"Is that why she wants Sheridan? Because someone else has him already?" House wondered.

"As far as I can tell," Anna confirmed. "According to her father, when she was little she didn't want similar toys as others, she wanted **the** toys that the others had. Once she got them, she didn't much care what happened to them then."

"That sounds like Daddy made sure she got the toys she wanted," House mused. "How did he think she was going to learn to behave if he never did anything that forced her to learn?"

"Beats me," Anna shrugged. "But I think that he is in for a rude awakening. As is Janelle, once Daddy dearest is no longer there to make things right for her."

"Anyway, good work Miss Hill," House congratulated. "Did you get Sheridan too?"

"Not exactly," Anna responded. "I just didn't tell him that the cheaper stuff he wanted to order would not work with our equipments. I didn't see why I should as he didn't ask me in the first place."

"So how long will it take to correct his mistake?" House asked.

"I'm not sure how long it will take him to sort things out, but as he didn't tell me he was doing the ordering I made the normal order according to Dr Cuddy's instructions and that shipment should arrive some time tomorrow," Anna told him smugly.

"So does this mean I don't get any fun at all once Cuddy leaves?" House pouted.

"Not at all," Anna consoled him. "I just took advantage of an opportunity. Getting rid of Sheridan takes more manipulation than I can do, but I will certainly help any way I can. Basically Sheridan is all yours, though. After all, I wouldn't have been involved in the egging incident at all had you not needed an alibi and had we been able to open a window that didn't mean you had to lean on your bad leg to reach the ideal throwing position. I was happy to help there, but I'm also quite happy to have you deal with Sheridan."

"Thank you," House accepted. "I'm happy to know that I still have my uses."

"You do," Anna confirmed. "Though Ms Forbes is mine. Apart from the fact that you need to take care of Dr Cuddy as well as deal with Sheridan, I'm not letting anyone else have the pleasure of annihilating that supercilious tart."

"That sounded personal!" House observed.

"It is now," Anna stated.

"So, do you really like chilli chocolate?" House wanted to know.

"Yes, I do," Anna said. "Chilli goes well with dark chocolate. The Mayans used to combine those two all the time."

"Really?" House commented. "That being the case it seems silly that someone who is allergic to chilli wouldn't make sure there is not chilli in the chocolate before she eats it."

"I personally always ask," Anna agreed with House.

"I must say," House confided. "You did beautifully. My hat is off to you."

"Thank you," Anna accepted. "I do try."

------------------------------------

That evening House was in the living room with Aiko. Aiko was sitting on the floor with her toys, but she wasn't playing. She was attentively listening to her Daddy who was trying out his guitar for the first time within her hearing. As Cuddy was upstairs resting and Blythe and Kasumii were in the kitchen doing whatever it is women do there – you will learn in time, Aiko, I'm sure – House didn't feel he needed to consider any other audience but Aiko, so he picked a simple enough tune that he played slowly to his baby girl. He didn't sing, since the words were way too sappy, but Aiko seemed to like the tune. He didn't know that the sounds carried to the kitchen and Blythe was almost teary-eyed as she sang silently to herself:

_For once in my life / I have someone who needs me / Someone I've needed so long / For once unafraid / I can go where life leads me / And somehow I know I'll be strong / For once I can touch / What my heart used to dream of / Long before I knew / Someone warm like you / Could make my dream come true / For once in my life / I won't let sorrow hurt me / Not like it's hurt me before / For once I've got someone / I know won't desert me / I'm not alone anymore / For once I can say / This is mine, you can't take it / As long as I've got love / I know I can make it / For once in my life / I've got someone who needs me._

She waited till House had changed into a children's song before she joined him in the living room and she didn't tell him that she had heard the previous song, too.

"Aiko seems to enjoy music," Blythe observed.

"I keep telling everyone she is one smart kid," House said without interrupting his playing.

"That she is," Blythe agreed. "I'm so glad she came into our lives."

"So what do you expect will happen with your marriage?" House asked changing the tune to some ballad that Blythe didn't recognise.

"I don't know," Blythe sighed. "I'm not even sure what I want to happen. I was brought up to believe that marriage is forever. Unless you had a very good reason to end it. Well, I had a good reason, but I found out about it some forty years too late. Until I learned about it I was under the impression that John was a good husband. I knew he wasn't an ideal father for you, you were too different, but I didn't know how bad it really was. When I did learn about it, I still couldn't completely separate the husband I knew from the husband I truly had so to me it was pretty much self-evident that we needed to save our marriage – if he was willing to make the necessary changes."

"Was? Past tense?" House queried.

"Yes. Past tense," Blythe confirmed. "Now I'm not so sure. For the first time in my life I have been happy. Just happy, you know. Not happy, **but**. Or happy, **if**. Just happy. I have had happy moments before, like when you were born and many others, but _happy_ has not been a constant state. Sure, I'm not saying that I couldn't be happier or that there aren't a few things I wouldn't change if I could, but for the first time I'm living for myself. For the first time I don't need to adjust my life to accommodate someone else. Quite the contrary, in fact. If I need something, you are making the necessary adjustments. You are happy to have my help with Aiko and everything, but if I need to go somewhere or just want to sleep in, you don't need reasons or explanations or anything. You just accept my decision and if Aiko needs a minder or something you do it yourself or get someone else to do it."

"You are my mother," House frowned. "Of course I accept your decisions. And Aiko is not your responsibility. I appreciate your help, but you have your own life, too. I wouldn't dream of depending on you to the extent that it would curtail your freedom."

"I know," Blythe caressed his cheek. "That is why helping you feels like a privilege, not a duty or a burden. I'm free and independent, for the first time in my life. Or so I feel, though in truth I do depend on you to support me. I don't make quite enough money from my work to be truly independent."

"You work for your room and board and whatever money I give you," House shrugged. "You are acting basically as our housekeeper and we need you. But even housekeepers have days off, so of course you can go out and do things you want."

"Yeah," Blythe smiled. "I know that is what you think. But you don't know how new that approach is to me. I like my life as it is, and I'm not sure I want anything to change."

"Dad might not be too happy with this _new_ you," House observed.

"No, I don't think he will be," Blythe admitted. "Any more than he will like it that he is staying in the guest room while you share your flat with Dr Higa."

"He doesn't like me sharing my flat with **Aiko**, so he can just lump Dr Higa together with her and keep his opinion to himself," House didn't feel sorry for his father.

"I will convey that message to him," Blythe promised.

"I can do it myself," House stated. "I imagine you two have enough things to talk about without my kids and Dr Higa."

"Yes we do, but you do understand that there is no way your children won't be part of the things we need to talk about," Blythe reminded him. "If John wishes to be a grandfather – no matter what happens to our marriage – he needs to drastically change his attitude towards Aiko. And probably towards Dr Higa, too."

"Well, you just take one issue at a time and we'll go from there," House told her. "If Dad cannot change his attitude towards Aiko but you still want him in your life in some capacity, we'll make it work. He doesn't need to be a _grandfather_ to the kids to be around. Really, Mom, don't worry. We will work things out somehow. Take all the time you need."

"Thank you," Blythe smiled. "Was there anything you needed before you took Aiko to bed?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks," House nodded.

------------------------

Later that night House was in his room reading medical journals while Aiko slumbered peacefully in her crib. He had a walkie-talkie on the coffee table and suddenly Cuddy's voice came through it: "House?"

"Yeah, I'm awake," House responded. "So you found the package."

"Yes I did," Cuddy said. "Only I was under the impression that you weren't supposed to come into my room."

"I didn't," House confirmed. "Mom carried it there for me. I thought you might like a chance to talk to someone if you cannot sleep."

"I do," Cuddy had actually burst into tears (damn those hormones!) when she found the gift and opened it to read the card inside which said: _I'm a night-owl anyway, so feel free to call. No talking dirty, though, the kids are listening!_

"So what's keeping you up tonight?" House queried. "Morose thoughts, worry, guilt, all of the above or something else entirely."

"The trips are training for Olympics," Cuddy informed him dryly.

"Ah, that would do it," House agreed. "You need to be stern with them. Tell them to settle down and get some sleep."

"I've tried that, but they take after their father and ignore me entirely," Cuddy said.

"Oh dear, and they are only tadpoles! You need to work on your authority," House advised.

"I know, or else they will walk all over me, just like their father always tries," Cuddy noted.

"Tries! Note that, I rarely succeed," House pointed out.

"You succeed far too often," Cuddy insisted. "Just because you have decided to behave for the last couple of weeks does not mean that I have forgotten all that has gone on before."

"I know," House acknowledged. "But surely you don't want to talk about work, do you?"

"No, but I'm not sure what else we can talk about," Cuddy mused.

"Anything, music, movies, what is the weirdest craving you've had during this pregnancy," House suggested, settling down to talk for as long as Cuddy – Lisa – needed.

They talked for nearly an hour about anything and nothing much. Finally when the trips settled down enough to let Cuddy sleep they said goodnight.


	14. Fatherly advice

_Thanks for the reviews. The song__ in the previous chapter was – surprisingly – called __For Once in My Life__ and it has been recorded by several people but you can find __Tony Bennett__ on You tube singing it with Stevie Wonder or at this years American Idol finale. _

----------------------

John House had got to the hospital late Tuesday afternoon. Blythe had taken him to the house as soon as he had greeted everyone and they had confirmed their first appointment with Blythe's therapist. As they were leaving House told Blythe that he had got confirmation from Dr Higa and he was arriving the next day.

"Do you want me to get your spare room ready for him?" Blythe asked.

"Thanks Mom, but no need," House declined the offer. "I called Lupe and she promised to see to it as she was coming over to clean up the place anyway."

"Good," Blythe nodded. "But if there is anything, let me know."

"Will do," House promised. "Now you just get Dad settled and we'll see you later. Patient permitting."

"You have a case?" Blythe queried on her way out.

"Just got the file, but I don't think it will take that long," House told her. "But I'll call if I'm wrong. Or I will let Cuddy know and she will tell you when she gets home."

"Fine, see you then," Blythe accepted.

Once Blythe and John were gone House limped into the conference room to do the differential with his team. Kasumii stayed in his office to keep an eye on Aiko, who was contentedly playing in her new playpen.

"So was the malaria test clear or inconclusive?" House opened the discussion.

"Malaria?" Chase asked puzzled.

"He hasn't been tested for malaria," Foreman explained. "He has not been travelling in any known malaria risk area."

"And you took his word for it? You are sure he even knows what malaria is or where he could get it?" House snarked. "The symptoms all say malaria, in fact they are pretty much standard for malaria. He started with flu-like symptoms, then headache, backache, aching limbs, lack of appetite, hypotension, jaundice, and now he has the chills. What more do you need?"

"Some indication that he could possibly have been exposed to it would be nice," Foreman pointed out impatiently.

"Are you telling me he has never been anywhere?" House asked. "Never been inside an airport for one?"

"Most airlines are aware of the possibility of insects possibly carrying infectious diseases travelling in planes which is why they are regularly disinfected especially if they fly to tropical locations," Foreman expounded patiently.

"They do here," Cameron inserted reading the file. "I'm not so sure about St. Petersburg."

"He's been to Russia?" House was immediately on alert.

"Yes," Cameron confirmed. "Finding his roots apparently. His mother comes from the Carelian Isthmus and he flew to St. Petersburg and travelled north from there to the Isthmus. He stayed for about a month there and then he returned. He's an anthropologist so he did some research too. There are some old villages there, he says, that haven't changed at all for hundred years or so. He came back about a month ago."

"I thought you said he hasn't been to any known malaria areas?" House turned to Foreman.

"Northern Europe is hardly the tropics," Foreman pointed out. "Malaria is a tropical disease."

"Now it is," House agreed. "But it was a common enough problem in Europe no less than a hundred years ago. And the last known epidemic of malaria happened only about sixty years ago. Any guesses where?"

"Russia," Chase concluded throwing down his pen.

"Technically no," House corrected. "At the time Carelian Isthmus was part of Finland and the epidemic was reported by the doctors of the Finnish army."

"How could that be?" Foreman wondered. "That far north the winter temperature is far too low for malaria!"

"And surely they don't have the mosquitoes that can carry the parasite there," Cameron doubted.

"Yes they do," House said. "They actually have three different Anopheles species in Northern Europe of which the Anopheles messeae lives in Southern Finland and the Carelian Isthmus. It's true that endemic malaria has probably disappeared from Europe, but with the Anopheles there, all you need is someone with untreated malaria to visit the area, get bitten and voila, you could have an epidemic. That is what they believe happened to cause the 1945 epidemic. German soldiers who had been transferred from Africa to the Carelian Isthmus probably brought it with them."

"So since our patient has typical malaria symptoms, and given that he has been to an area where theoretically he could have been exposed to malaria, we test for it," Cameron sighed as she stood up to go and do the tests.

"I think that would bee an excellent idea," House agreed. "I'll be in the clinic if you need me."

Chase and Foreman watched him leave the room with almost equal exasperation. "I hate it when he diagnoses people based on their travel plans," Chase sighed.

"Next time I'll skip the symptoms and just give him the patients travel history," Foreman agreed as he, too, got up to follow Cameron.

-----------------------------------

Having disposed off their patient House got home at his usual time. He took Aiko to his flat while Kasumii and Cuddy went to the main house. It took House about an hour to be ready to join the others in the big living room. He came in his wheelchair again, though he had lately occasionally risked carrying Aiko in the house without the extra precaution. Today he didn't feel like taking any risks as he was pretty sure he would end up cutting the evening short rather than expose Aiko to John's presence for too long. And he couldn't be sure someone would be there to help him with Aiko if he decided to leave abruptly.

When House got to the big living room he saw that Wilson and Grey had joined the party. That was ok with him, since the men spent a lot of time in the house anyway, but usually they didn't come every night.

"Your Mother thought it might be a good thing to have more people present," Wilson responded quietly to House's raised eyebrow. "She figured it might make John a little less prominent."

"Well you know the rule of the house: the more the merrier," House stated dryly.

During dinner John didn't say much but he did mutter something about why hire a Nanny if you did all the work yourself. House ignored him and kept on feeding Aiko himself. Not that Aiko actually ate with them - she had had her dinner earlier - but she liked being with the others and so far she had always behaved very well; no throwing any food on the floor or deliberately smearing her hair and face with sticky substances. She also liked it when House allowed her to steal little bits of his food (deliberately selected to be safe for her and to her taste, naturally). Of course, she wasn't a neat eater and a most of the things went on her face rather than into her mouth, but nobody minded that. Or at least nobody had minded that, it seemed John was not quite as tolerant as the _House-hold_. However, John knew that he was on probation with Blythe so he held his tongue pretty well.

Or at least he held it until after dinner when everyone was helping Blythe clear the table (except Cuddy who had to go to the bathroom – again) and John was left in the living room with House and Aiko. House turned the TV on for news but he didn't really watch. He sat on the floor with Aiko handing her toys – or actually he was holding them just a little out of Aiko's reach so that she had to crawl to them or pull herself up to stand against House to reach them. John didn't really follow the news either; he was watching his son absorb himself with the baby.

"You know, you should really start leaving her to that Japanese girl you hired," John finally voiced his opinion. "If you wait until your real children arrive, the change will be too sudden and upsetting for her."

"My real children?" House asked in a tight voice.

"Yeah, the triplets," John reminded him – like he could have forgotten. "It will be hard enough to be a father to three babies, you cannot waist time with kids that aren't yours. I know you promised to look after her, but that Nanny on yours can do it just fine. They are both Japanese so they probably understand each other better anyway. Unless, of course, you can persuade her grandfather to take her back now that you will have your own children. You have to think rationally; you really cannot split yourself four-ways. Three kids are more than enough especially as they are all babies."

"First of all, **she** has a name: Aiko," House was breathing heavily trying to control his temper. He didn't think a shouting match between him and John was going to help his Mother figure out what to do with her marriage. "Secondly, she is my daughter. Mine, just as much as the triplets, if not more. Aiko is all mine, the triplets have a mother, too. My nanny has a name, too. Miss Tanaka. She will take care of Aiko when I'm not doing it myself. She will help with the other children as well. This is my house, my family and I don't need any advice from you."

"Look here son," John sat up annoyed at the disrespect that House was showing him – not that it was anything new, but this was about John's grandchildren and what was good for them, in his opinion. "I know you think you know everything, you always have been arrogant that way, but I will not have you selling my grandchildren short for someone who isn't even family..."

John didn't get any further with his tirade. House was getting ready to do something drastic but he didn't need to. Aiko had been following the argument with a frown on her face – she had never before heard anyone talk to her Daddy in that tone, or House himself speaking to someone like that – and when John started his lecture, Aiko had had enough. She let out an angry scream that went through the house like a siren. She hadn't even finished her scream when everyone in the house was in the living room wanting to know what had happened.

As soon as Aiko had started screaming House had taken her in his arms and Aiko had allowed it, but she kept looking at John with an angry look on her face. Once she finished her scream – satisfied that familiar people had come over to help her Daddy – she pressed her face against House and clung to him like a limpet.

"John?" Blythe turned to her husband. "What did you do?"

"I?" John was amazed. "I didn't do anything. I wasn't even anywhere near the kid."

"I wasn't asking what you did to Aiko," Blythe explained as she watched House motion Kasumii to bring him his chair and help him to it – since Aiko was hindering his movements. "The only time Aiko screams like that is when she thinks someone is being mean to her Daddy. So what did you do or say to Greg?"

"Nothing," John insisted. "I just pointed out to him that he needs to make better arrangements for that girl now that he will have his own children arriving soon."

His statement was met with absolute silence. Everyone but House turned to stare at John like he had suddenly spouted a second head. Nobody knew what to say. Not that they didn't have plenty in their minds but John's suggestion – especially the implied one – was so outrageous to all of them that they were unable to even begin to correct his misconceptions.

"I already told you that her name is Aiko," House said as he rolled his chair towards his flat.

"John, I think you and I better go to my rooms to talk," Blythe informed her husband. "I'm sorry, everyone, I'm sure you will be fine without us. You've been here often enough so just treat this as home, there is cake in the fritz and help yourselves to coffee and whatever. I'm not sure how long this will take." She escorted John out of there.

"I think I'll go and see how House is," Wilson stated and followed his friend.

"Right, that cut the party short," Cuddy noted. "Kasumii, Grey, let's go and find that cake. The trips want something sweet."

-----------------------------------

"House?" Wilson called cautiously as he entered House's flat. He found them at the piano. House was playing something classical with one hand and holding Aiko on his lap with the other. "Are you ok?"

At first House didn't respond, but then he turned away from the keys. "What if he is right?"

"Right? John?" Wilson was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"What if I cannot handle any more kids," House clarified. "I have Aiko with me almost everywhere and all the time. How can I give similar commitment to the Trips? Is it even possible, when there is three more in my care? And if I do make an effort to be there for them, will I end up neglecting Aiko. I'm all she has. The Trips have a mother, too. I cannot stop loving Aiko, it's just not possible, but is it fair to the triplets? If I cannot love them as much?"

"Hey, stop that," Wilson was appalled at the effect John's stupidity had had on Greg. "The fact that you love Aiko the way you do means that you will love your new kids too. The kind of love you have for a child is not something you can measure or which comes only in limited amount. The fears you are having, the challenges you are facing are normal. All parents go through them every time they expect a new baby! You and Cuddy are not the first parents in the world to expect triplets and there are other families that struggle with these issues of how to make sure the elder siblings don't get neglected after twins or triplets are born. You are the king of research! So research! Get prepared, use your brains. Besides, the bond you and Aiko share will not break for anything. It's too special."

"But will I bond with the triplets the same way?" House feared.

"Probably not," Wilson shrugged. "But do you need to? As you said, they have a mother. Besides, usually twins and triplets share that kind of bond with each other, not either of their parents. You will figure it all out. You will find a way to make each of your kids feel special and secure and loved. You cannot lump them together anyway, they will all be individuals, with different needs and likes and dislikes. You have always been able to reach children; you have never had any problems with them even when they are your patients. True, their parents usually hate you, but somehow you can always reach the kids. Remember that autistic boy you saved? He reached out to you; he made eye-contact with you, voluntarily. You were the first person in the world he wanted to touch; to see. You will figure this out, too. I promise you."

"I suppose I could research the subject," House mused, making Wilson smile. Yes, House was going to be fine. Probably scared still, but he was going to be fine.


	15. Triple clinic

_Thank you for your reviews; and the questions – I will try to make all clear in time._

_-----------------------_

Later - rather late - that night House's walkie-talkie came alive again.

"House, are you there?" Cuddy wanted to know.

"Yea," House responded. "I'm here."

"Are you ok?" Cuddy asked.

"The point of these walkie-talkies was for me to find out if you were ok," House countered.

"Well, it's a two-way radio," Cuddy pointed out.

"True, I'll have to give you that," House nodded. "I'm fine. Not perfect, but then that's nothing new, but I'm fine. Really wishing I hadn't given up the booze and drugs but at least I have Aiko, so I'm ok."

"Good," Cuddy responded. "I would really hate to find out that your father has managed to cause problems. He isn't worth it."

"He may not be, but he is still my father," House pointed out dryly. "It's not like I can just ignore him. One of our kids could turn out like him!"

"No way," Cuddy stated with absolute certainty. "He is not just his genes; he is the product of his upbringing and background, his profession. The basic qualities may be there, but we have a lot to do with the eventual person that we raise."

"I know," House agreed. "And that is what scares me witless!"

"I thought I was supposed to be the one with unreasonable guilt-complex!" Cuddy exclaimed. "The kids aren't even here yet and you are already feeling guilty for screwing them up."

"Well, I screwed up the conception, didn't I?" House reminded her. "We weren't supposed to have triplets."

"Yeah, I admit that it's a bit complicated," Cuddy admitted. "But I'm not sure it's a screw-up."

"You are just saying that now when you are feeling sorry for me," House observed.

"Could be, but somehow it didn't feel like a screw-up at the time," Cuddy told him gently.

House thought he heard something in Cuddy's voice and he ventured: "I thought that super-tanker had already sailed?"

"Well, the thing about really _super _super-tankers is that sometimes they sail back," was Cuddy's somewhat cautious answer.

"So, do you have any idea where the _super_ super-tanker in question might be heading?" House queried with a smile.

"Well, it is currently having some navigational problems," Cuddy observed. "It has a rather heavy load you see, and is sort of stuck in the shallows for now."

"I see," House was sympathetic. "But once the current cargo has been unloaded, do you think the ship might be heading this way for some body-work?"

"I rather think that the bottom might need some scraping," Cuddy replied tongue in cheek.

"Oh, I'm glad you said that, not me," House laughed. "Had I said that I would have been in the doghouse for the longest time!"

"I thought you'd appreciate the expression," Cuddy laughed back.

"Thanks, Cuddy," House told her. "You certainly took my mind away from my Dad. And don't worry; I won't hold you to this."

"Oh, I'm not worrying," Cuddy answered blithely. "You see, I was rather hoping you would hold me to it." At that she closed the connection.

"Cuddy!" House tried to reach her again. "Lisa! Hey, you cannot leave me hanging like this!" But she didn't respond to him again – not that night.

----------------------

House was up early the next morning – as was his custom ever since Aiko came into his life. True, he usually went back to bed once he had seen that Aiko was getting her needs met, but still now that they lived in the same house, Cuddy usually saw him – at least briefly – before she left for work.

"Now that is how I like my women," House stated as he limped into the kitchen in Kasumii's wake. Kasumii was naturally carrying Aiko.

"What do you mean?" Cuddy asked with a frown.

"I think he is referring to the fact that you are not wearing any shoes," Blythe smiled teasingly.

"Absolutely," House nodded. "Barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. What more could any man want?"

"Maybe someone who isn't likely to dump a pot of coffee on his head?" Cuddy observed wryly.

"Ok, that is my cue to turn right back and go to bed," House said getting a bottle of water before heading back to his flat.

"Greg," Blythe stopped him. "Can I have a word?"

"Sure Mom," House agreed. "Do you want to have it here or do you want to be private and follow me to my flat?"

"I think I'd rather follow you," Blythe chose.

--------------------------------

"So what is it Mom?" House asked as they got into his flat.

"Do you want your father out of your house?" Blythe came straight out with it.

"What do you mean?" House wasn't sure what Blythe's motivation for the question was.

"I thought that was a pretty straight forward question," Blythe pointed out. "After what happened last night and the way he feels about Aiko, can you put up with him?"

"Well, I'm not happy with him," House replied cautiously. "And I won't deny that not having him here would be more comfortable. But the point of having him here at all was to make things easier for you. If you still need him here, then I can put up with him. Sure, I will have to limit my exposure to him, but it'll be only for a week or so. And Dr Higa is coming today, so that will help things as I probably need to help him get reacquainted with Aiko. I know it's not obvious, but she has started to feel shy about people she doesn't know or remember."

"So if John stays around for the next couple of days or so, you can live with it?" Blythe wanted to be sure.

"If you need, him, then yes," House replied.

"We talked for quite some time last night," Blythe said. "Only I'm not sure if you can call it talking. He just would not understand how important Aiko is to us. He just doesn't understand. I told him that I definitely do not want to be married to him, but I need to give him every chance. I don't think he will change, but I need to feel more certain of it. I know, with my mind, that he is what and who he is, but my heart still hopes. As you said, I gave him fifty years of my life; that is not something you just write off as a bad bargain. He will not stay for more than two more nights, no matter what happens, but I need to make sure I have done everything for my marriage."

"Then I can put up with him a little longer," House nodded. "Not happily, but I don't think you're feeling too happy right now either?"

"No," Blythe agreed. "I feel like an utter fool for having been married to him all these years and not having seen him for what he is at all."

"Hey, Mom," House gave a one-armed hug to his mother (his cane was in his other hand). "He wasn't really around that much; and you really didn't have that many chances of seeing him for what he is."

"That's not really an excuse, but thank you," Blythe caressed her son's cheek briefly. "I'll let you get back to bed for an hour. Can you stand having your father in your car on the way to work? We have our first session with Cecil just before I need to start work."

"Sure," House shrugged. "Kasumii can take the bike so it shouldn't be too crowded."

"Thank you," Blythe smiled. "I'll try to gag him for the drive."

"That would be appreciated," House said with feeling as he limped towards his bed while his mother headed back to the main kitchen.

-----------------------------------------------

Later that day House was in the clinic doing his hours. Apparently his mother had been able to be stern enough with John House, as the ride to PPTH had been pretty much silent except for a couple of remarks about the weather, so there had been no additional aggravation, which was a good thing, since he was having a very had time with being reasonably nice to the idiot patients that were crowding the clinic this fine morning! If only Sheridan was already in charge; House could have sent him a barrage of disgruntled patients.

When he saw his next patient – or actually it was patients – as he entered the exam room, he felt for a moment that his boredom had finally unhinged him. He was seeing triple. Three angelic looking little girls, about seven years of age, were waiting for him. They were identical from the tips of their pink sneakers to the top of their blond heads. House turned to the harassed-looking mother who was with them – at least, she was only one (though House had a sneaking suspicion that she was the one who really wanted to be three!).

"So what seems to be the problem?" House asked.

"Mary-Jane has sinusitis," the mother responded. "And I'm fairly sure Mary-Sue has it, too, but Mary-Anne probably has only a cold as yet."

"Mary-what?" House wasn't sure he had heard correctly.

"Mary-Jane, Mary-Sue and Mary-Anne," the mother sighed; obviously House was not the first to ask the question. The girls paid no mind to their mother or House, they were whispering together about whatever it was they found interesting in their present location.

"Seriously?" House had to check.

"Yes," the mother nodded. "I was suffering from postpartum depression."

"Was there any reason to make them suffer for it?" House wanted to know.

"I wasn't able to decide what to have for breakfast, or if I even wanted any, so I didn't have any say in their names," the mother told him. "They were named by their father."

"Are you still married to him?" House queried.

"Yes, he is a lovely man," was the response. "Of course, nobody's perfect."

"So I have been told," House agreed. "Any reason why you think they have sinusitis?"

"They have had it before," the mother explained. "They are prone to it and I have learned to watch out for the symptoms."

"Ok, let's see what the kids have then," House got the necessary things out and then he turned to the girls. "Right, then Mary, line up in front of me."

The girls did as told and House checked the first one. Once he was done he took a surgical marker and drew a line on the girls left cheek. He checked the next one and marked her with an x. When it was turn for the third girl to be marked he said: "Sure I could leave you without a mark as you already look different from your sisters, but that would be preferential treatment." So he drew two short lines to her cheek.

"Right," House turned to the mother. "Mary One has sinusitis; I'll give her a prescription. Mary X has sinusitis too, but hers has gone into her ears as well, so she needs something stronger than her sister. Mary Two has only a cold so far, but bed rest and plenty of liquids are recommended. Keep them home till the marks on their faces fade, which will happen in a week or so. Make sure the two of them take the full course of medicine I'm prescribing them and if the symptoms persist bring them back."

"Thank you," the mother said giving a somewhat longing glance at the marker on the table. House noticed it and turned to take it. He gave it to her.

"Use this judiciously," he instructed.

"Thank you again," the mother gave him a grateful smile.

"Have you ever thought of dressing them differently?" House wanted to know.

"Yes, but they get distressed. I'm not so sure they know they are three different people," the mother shrugged diffidently. "I'm fairly sure that they think of themselves as a single unit. It's ... I just can't ... I love them; I don't want them to be unhappy. They will grow up and have independent lives quite soon enough."

"Yeah, I suppose you are right," House mused as he escorted them out.

As they got out of the exam room Cuddy saw them. She took one look at the girls and turned to House: "House! What have you done now!" She pulled him back into the exam room and out of earshot from the people in the waiting room.

"I just needed to make sure I knew which one I had already checked," House replied innocently.

"Surgical marker!" Cuddy distressed. "I can't even imagine how that made their mother feel."

"She wanted one for herself," House pointed out.

"One what?" Cuddy got confused.

"A surgical marker," House elaborated. "She thought is was a good idea."

"You couldn't just get their names?" Cuddy asked. "You know, use their names instead of marking them as one, two and x."

"Yeah, their names! Come with me," House dragged Cuddy back into the waiting room where the girls still were waiting for their mother to fill the prescriptions at the pharmacy. House spotted them and yelled: "Mary!" as the girls turned as one he just waved to them and said. "Nothing, thanks." Then he turned to Cuddy. "See, their name was of no help."

"They cannot all be called Mary!" Cuddy insisted at which House slapped the files into her hand. She read them and stared. "Mary-Jane, Mary-Sue and Mary-Anne... You have to be kidding me!"

"Not me," House denied. "Their Daddy named them."

"Really?" Cuddy paused for a thought. "Well, you wanted to name our trips Junior."

"That was before Jimmy junior turned out to be a girl," House groused going to get his next patient.


	16. Grandfather

_Thank you again for taking the time to review! _

_There is a conversation later in this chapter written in italics to indicate that the conversation is in Japanese – a language I don't know, but in The Present Days I decided that House does. _

_--------------------------_

"So how was the meeting?" House asked as his mother came into his office.

"Not too good," Blythe sighed. "We will have one more, tomorrow morning and if that isn't significantly different from today's session, I'm done. He is willing to talk about some things, but not all and his attitude to Aiko ... Well; I don't need to tell you. I'm going out to lunch with him now, but I don't think we will discuss anything important there either. See you at home, when you get there."

"Ok, try not to get indigestion," House kissed his mother on the cheek. "And remember that Dr Higa will be with me when I get home. Try to prepare Dad for that, if possible."

"I don't think it will be possible," Blythe observed. "John wasn't impressed with him the last time they met and I'm pretty sure the feeling was more than reciprocated."

"That was hardly surprising under the circumstances," House pointed out.

"Aiko was recovering from a life-threatening illness, and all John could do was suggest you should give her back to her grandfather," Blythe remembered. "The least John could have done was to be happy that Aiko survived, but I don't think that even crossed his mind!"

"He has always had somewhat one-track mind," House shrugged. "And I'm sure he was happy that Aiko survived, in a sort of general way. Just nothing personal."

"That, I think, pretty much sums it up," Blythe agreed. "Nothing personal to him. And the problem is that he just cannot get it through to his head that to all the rest of us, it's very personal. Well, I don't really expect to change that, but I have to give it one more try before I throw in the towel. He has booked his flight for tomorrow night, and that will be that then."

"Ok, I think I can hang on to my patience till then," House surmised. "Can't promise, but I will try hard."

"Thank you," Blythe smiled. "See you later at home, then."

-----------------------------------

Later that day House followed Cuddy to Dr Jordan's office. Originally he wasn't supposed to be there, but Cuddy had cancelled once and had tried to cancel again, but Anna had refused to do it and had, instead, called for reinforcements in the form of House. Cuddy was not happy but she was resigned to her fate.

"I hear you were trying to skip this again," Dr Jordan greeted them.

"Helen! You don't need to say that like I was playing truant or something," Cuddy huffed. "I just had things to do."

"Has she been sleeping enough?" Helen asked House.

"I'm here! I can answer your questions about **me** myself!" Cuddy was indignant.

"But she knows you would lie," House explained to her turning then to Helen. "Not enough. Miss Hill or I have been able to force her to take her prescribed nap almost every day after lunch, but she is still not getting enough rest in my opinion. Her passengers seem to like the night life so she doesn't get to sleep until rather late in the night."

"You said the walkie-talkies were there so that we could talk," Cuddy glared at him. "Not so that you could spy on me!"

"Same difference unless you thought that I would just assume you were talking in your sleep," House pointed out. "Now settle down and answer Jordan's questions. I won't interfere unless you lie."

"Fine," Cuddy snapped at him. "What do you want to know Helen?"

After that the visit went smoothly (barring a few disgruntled mumblings from Cuddy) and Helen got all the blood and tests she wanted. She also did an ultra.

"So there they are, 25 weeks," Helen said turning the monitor so that Cuddy – and House – could see. "Looks good, they seem healthy, a little small, but that is expected as there are three of them. If absolutely necessary they probably would survive outside by now, but I would rather we did everything we can to avoid premature labour."

"Is there a chance that might happen?" Cuddy asked worriedly – reaching for House's hand to hold.

"With triplets there always is," Helen responded. "In fact, I expect that you will have them at least two weeks early anyway. But right now it's your blood pressure that I don't like. In fact, I have to order you to start your maternity leave next week, I'm afraid."

"I can't!" Cuddy had an immediate reaction. "There are things... The hospital ... How..."

"Cuddy, shut up," House told her. "You have to let Sheridan run your hospital for a while. It will happen sooner or later anyway. He won't make a bigger mess of it just because it's sooner than you wanted. You have people here who will make sure it's not too bad no matter when it happens. Sure, Miss Hill will work as Wilson's secretary for the duration but she can still keep an eye on things. Evil Nurse Brenda is not going to let Sheridan mess with anything that affects her, so the clinic and the nursing staff are fairly safe and the heads of all departments will look after their domains. We can hold the fort till you return. Sure, you will still need to clean up after Sherry Darling, but I imagine by that time you are more than ready to sink your teeth into something like that anyway."

"He's right," Helen concurred. "Your hospital will be still here when you get back in six months time. It may be a little worse for wear, but it will be here. You really do have to do this."

"Next week, huh?" Cuddy asked again.

"I would like to say today, but I think you do need a couple of days' adjustment time, so yes: next week," Helen confirmed.

Cuddy looked at the monitor and her kids that were peacefully slumbering inside her (so now they were sleeping! Just great!) and sighed. "Ok, Friday is my last day then."

"Excellent decision," House approved. "I'm not sure I could have behaved nicely any longer than that anyway."

"House!" Cuddy scolded him but she had to laugh. "That is my biggest fear: what will you come up with now that I'm not here to watch you."

"Oh, don't worry," House dismissed her concerns. "I won't blow the place up or anything."

"Not even the MRIs?" Cuddy raised her eyebrow at him.

"No! That was just once!" House huffed. "I just wanted to see how a bullet would really behave in one."

"What?" Helen couldn't help but exclaim.

"You don't want to know," Cuddy told her dryly. "House, if you break anything while I'm gone, you will pay for it. Personally!"

"Fine, be that way," House huffed. "I know your hormones are messing with you but no need to treat me like I'm eight or something."

"Well you definitely are something," Cuddy stated. "I mean it; you break it you buy it."

"I know," House told her. "The hospital is safe, I promise. It's Sheridan I want."

"Ok, if we are clear on that, fine," Cuddy accepted.

----------------------------------

Later that day Dr Higa got to the hospital. House had arranged for a car to pick him up from the airport since he had work – no new patients, but he was still playing the part of a conscientious doctor for Sheridan's benefit – just to make the shock bigger when Cuddy started her maternity leave.

House was in his office with Aiko when Kasumii escorted Dr Higa there (House had sent her to greet Dr Higa in the lobby when the driver called him to tell they were about to arrive at the hospital doors) and then she went into the conference room leaving the men alone with Aiko.

"_Sensei!"_ House greeted Dr Higa as he entered the room "_How was your journey?"_

"_Uneventful,"_ Dr Higa smiled. "_Too long, too. I kept wanting to tell the pilot to fly faster, but was able to contain myself."_

"_Yes, I relate to that," _House responded. "_Aiko has been expecting you, too, though she is feeling a little shy right now."_ House kissed Aiko's head. The baby was securely cuddled in his arms and was pressing her face against his chest taking very little peeks every couple of seconds at her grandfather. Clearly she didn't remember him – at least not properly – but she was curious, especially since her Daddy spoke to the stranger in the same language as her Nanny always spoke to her. Also, there was something familiar in the stranger, especially his voice.

"_Yes, I assumed she would have reached that stage by now,"_ Dr Higa accepted. _"I wish I had been able to be here for longer after her illness, but we'll just have to make do with this."_

"_I don't think she will feel shy for very long,"_ House explained. "_She is very open to new experiences. Just a little cautious now – and I cannot say that I see that as a bad thing."_

Right then Aiko decided she rather liked the looks of this new person – at least as long as she was in her Daddy's arms – and she turned towards him and extended her hand. She was holding a teething ring in her hand and she was willing to give it to the stranger as a welcome gift (which she fully expected to get back, as she always did!). Dr Higa came closer and accepted the gift with all formality bowing and expressing his gratitude for her deeming his insignificant self worthy of such a magnificent gift. House did not laugh, but he smiled broadly.

"_She is getting her first tooth then?"_ Dr Higa asked as Aiko hid her face against her Daddy again.

"_Yes, and she isn't too happy about it,"_ House said. _"But I don't think anyone would be. It's not too bad yet; the numbing cream helps just fine so far."_

"_Then she probably needs this toy more than I do, after all I'm nearing the time when I will loose my teeth, not grow them,"_ Dr Higa smiled as he extended the ring towards Aiko – who was again peeking at him. After some hesitation Aiko agreed to turn towards him again and accepted the toy. She didn't hide again but gazed steadily at her grandfather.

"_Would you like your Ojii-san to hold you?"_ House asked Aiko. Naturally she didn't reply but she didn't protest either when House carefully handed her over to Dr Higa. She did glance slightly frantically at her Daddy once he let go but as soon as House placed his hand on her back – letting her know that he wasn't going anywhere – she settled into Higa's arms and gazed at his face chewing her teething ring thoughtfully. After a while she used her other hand to explore the face in front of her.

"_She likes to play Fish,"_ House told Higa.

"_Fish?"_ Higa queried.

"_Yes. I try to imitate a gold-fish and she tries to copy it,"_ House explained. _"She is actually quite good at it."_

Higa considered the baby in his arms for a moment and then he made a fish-face. Aiko giggled, delighted that this new man in her life knew the game and then she dutifully reproduced the face making her grandfather smile. He repeated his face and she reproduced it and again she giggled.

"_I have to warn you,"_ House informed Higa. "_She can go on doing that forever. So far we have never been able to play fish for as long as she wants. Fortunately she is happy if you play even a little while."_

"_Well, I have plenty of time now,"_ Higa answered. "_I'm sure I can keep on playing this even when we talk."_

"_Indeed,"_ House agreed. _"I've found it an excellent way to keep Aiko occupied during adult conversations. Of course, sometimes it can be a little distracting."_

"_I can imagine,"_ Higa smiled. "_But I'm sure you won't be distracted by a few fish-faces from me?_"

"_Probably not, but I'm not making any promises since that last one was really something!"_ House smiled back.


	17. Babysitting plans

_Thank you for your reviews again, even though they tend to go to my head ;) And Lerrinus, congrats!_

--------

House took Dr Higa to see Cuddy, they took Aiko with them. Ms Forbes was in the anteroom with Miss Hill and House introduced her briefly to Dr Higa. Miss Hill escorted them into Cuddy's office – which was fortunately Sheridan-free.

"Dr Higa, meet Miss Anna Hill," House introduced them properly. "You will deal with her quite a lot as she will be Dr Wilson's assistant for the next six months when Dr Wilson acts as the Dean of Medicine during Dr Cuddy's maternity leave."

"Miss Hill," Higa gave her a formal, respectful bow which was returned correctly! "I am honoured to meet you. Gregory has told me that your throwing arm is remarkable."

"I hope he didn't give the impression that egging cars is a hobby of mine," Anna replied.

"Indeed, no," Higa smiled. "But his description of the plan and its' execution was almost poetic. I am in awe."

"I thank you for my part," Anna accepted. "I hope that, now that you are here, we will be able to keep you equally entertained."

"I have no doubt of that at all," Higa stated.

"We aim to please," Anna nodded. "Now, I will leave you to Dr Cuddy and go back to plot ways of slipping chilli into Ms Forbes' lunch."

"Anna!" Cuddy exclaimed admonishingly.

"Just kidding, Lisa, just kidding," Anna reassured her, but not very convincingly, on her way out. Since she couldn't really go after her, Cuddy had to accept her word.

Cuddy was sitting on her couch with papers on the coffee table, she did consider standing up to greet her visitors but Dr Higa motioned her to stay where she was and walked to her.

"Please, don't try to get up," Higa said as he walked to the couch and sat down on the other end of the couch setting Aiko, whom he had been carrying, on the seat with them. House sat on an armchair near Cuddy. "I remember how difficult it was both for my wife and daughter-in-law and they were only carrying one child. If you are comfortable there, don't, please don't shift for me."

"Thank you," Cuddy smiled. "It is getting a bit difficult, which is why my doctor ordered me to start my leave next week."

"I'm sure the hospital will miss you," Higa noted. "But it will survive. Your first responsibility is now to your children."

"I know, but it has always been difficult for me to let go of something," Cuddy explained ruefully.

While the adults talked Aiko had crawled her way up to Cuddy. She liked Cuddy, though they didn't spend an awful lot of time together, except during week-ends when everybody spent time with Aiko. And of course, sometimes Cuddy babysat Aiko when House was doing his clinic hours, but naturally that was mostly Kasumii's duty. Now that she had been brought to Cuddy's office Aiko wanted to say hello properly. Besides, she found Cuddy's tummy interesting. Aiko crawled right up to Cuddy and then she worked herself into a sitting position. She leaned forward and placed her hands on Cuddy's tummy. Somebody kicked her! Aiko frowned, thought for a moment and hit back!

"Wow, Little Love," House leaned closer and took Aiko's hands into his. "Gently there. It's quite enough that MamaLisa gets pummelled from the inside by your siblings; you don't need to do it from the outside as well. Now, just feel gently how they move in there, but no hitting back."

House placed Aiko's hands back to where they had been but didn't let go. When the movements were felt again, Aiko looked up at him with a frown but he reassured her that everything was as it should be. Aiko turned back to consider Cuddy's tummy again and after a while she decided to shift her position so that she could lean against it. She put her teething ring back into her mouth and settled to stay where she was until Daddy was ready to take her back into her playpen again.

"Lisa?" House was looking at Cuddy who was trying to secretly wipe her eyes. "Are you crying again?"

"Yes!" Cuddy snapped. "I keep telling you that my hormones are making me into a regular watering pot! I dropped a pen today and burst into tears when I realised I couldn't just bend down and pick it. I had to call Anna to get it."

"Sounds like it really is time for you to start your maternity leave," Higa observed. "Your stress levels must be very high. Though I have to say, a watering pot is much preferable to what my wife was when she was pregnant! She was a virago."

"Oh, Cuddy has been that too," House told him ruefully. "It's only these last few days that Niobe has replaced Echidna. But usually she has some reason for her tears. So what did I do now to make you cry?"

"Is it always you?" Higa couldn't help but ask.

"Not always," House shrugged a little diffidently. "But it is often."

"But rarely for any bad reason," Cuddy defended House. "It's just that you called me MamaLisa."

"Ok," House said carefully. "Now you do remember that I'm a man, right? So could you explain a little more, before I apologise. I'd like to know why I'm doing it – if, that is, I am."

"You haven't ... I don't quite know how to explain this," Cuddy didn't know what to say, how to explain her reaction.

"Are you trying to tell us that Gregory hasn't before referred to you in maternal terms to Aiko?" Higa ventured.

"I haven't?" House frowned. "No, I don't think I have."

"Well why should you," Cuddy tried to shrug. "You asked me to be her guardian if there is need, but we haven't really discussed anything else. And as we are not married, nor really living together in the normal sense of that expression, I'm really nothing to Aiko, at least not on legal terms. I know that I'm important to her and I'm part of her safety-net like Wilson and your team; we are all her family. But we haven't been really specific."

"That seems like an oversight to me," Higa gave his opinion. "Naturally, I don't want to interfere, it's your relationship, your lives, but if Lisa-san is going to be a steady influence in Aiko's life and as the mother of Aiko's siblings, you really need to define her role more clearly."

"I'm sure you are right," House admitted. "It's just that she is pregnant and when she decided to try for a baby we didn't think she would end up with triplets."

"Are you telling me that you have arrogantly assumed that though you can deal with four children she can't?" Higa asked quizzically.

"He can get arrogant like that," Cuddy pointed out.

"Not consciously!" House denied. "No, I never thought that. But I suppose it amounts to the same in the end. I just felt that having impregnated you with triplets I couldn't really expect you to take on Aiko, too. Not to the same extent as your own kids."

"What is it about me? My hair, my face, my eyes, my body?" Cuddy asked House. "Tell me: what is it about me that made you confuse me with your father?"

"Ouch," House acknowledged the hit. "I'm sorry, really. But don't worry; you'll have plenty of time to form a bond with Aiko once you start your maternity leave."

"How so?" Cuddy wondered. "You always have her with you at work!"

"Cuddy! I'm not leaving you alone at home when you are six months pregnant," House scorned. "Kasumii is staying with you, which means Aiko will stay home, too."

"What!" Cuddy exclaimed. "Are you making Kasumii baby-sit me too and not just Aiko?"

"Well she's the only one who can," House shrugged. "I cannot ask Mom to give up her job and what little independence she has."

"I don't need a babysitter!" Cuddy groused.

"I will be around quite a lot, too," Higa reminded her. "And I don't think Gregory means to have you so much watched as he wants to make sure you have help immediately if something – gods forbid – should go wrong."

"Well, I suppose if it is put that way," Cuddy agreed. "Besides, since it also gives me a chance to form a proper bond with Aiko, I can live with it."

"That's what I thought," House remarked.

"Did you do this on purpose?" Cuddy eyed him suspiciously.

"Do what?" House was puzzled.

"Lure me into whining about my lack of connection with Aiko so you could make me accept Kasumii watching me at home?" Cuddy glared.

"That's pregnancy paranoia talk!" House concluded.

"Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean you didn't do it!" Cuddy declared.

"Oh, yeah, that sounds really convincing," House dismissed. "For that plan to work I would have needed to decide some few months back that you needed Kasumii to look after you about now, and I would have needed to deliberately keep Aiko away from you so that you would feel neglected and then I could use that to manipulate you. Or then I'm just an insensitive jerk who didn't realise that you love Aiko as much as I do and needed Higa-san to point it out to me. Now which of those scenarios sounds more like me?"

Cuddy stared at him for a moment, shrugged and replied. "Darned if I know."

---------------------------------

When they got home that evening House took Dr Higa to the flat and showed him to the room reserved for him.

"_My father leaves tomorrow, so if you want to move into the main house then, it's ok_," House said. "_As you already found out, Aiko is teething, and though it's been ok so far, it can get worse. And those who have experienced it tell me that it usually gets worse at night."_

"_No problem,"_ Higa replied. "_As I'm sure you remember I'm bit of a night-owl anyway. Besides, I don't need to get up early in the morning. Unless you prefer to have your flat to yourself, I'm fine in this room."_

"_No problem,"_ House denied. "_We have always dealt well with each other. Of course, if that changes then the room in the main house is still there."_

A little later they joined the others in the main house. Higa was carrying Aiko again as House didn't think he needed the wheelchair now – after all, if John House got difficult Dr Higa was not going to want to hang around him either. The dinner went pretty much the same way as the night before, only this time it wasn't Wilson and Grey who were filling up the extra chairs but House's team. He had invited them over firstly to minimise the impact of his father's presence and secondly to give them a chance to get reacquainted with Dr Higa.

Having learned from experience, Blythe refused help with clearing up the table and shooed everyone into the living room with Higa, House and John. Cuddy still had to go to the bathroom, but everyone else was accounted for. Chase decided to be the sacrificial lamb and he engaged John in conversation about golf, which John had taken up since his retirement. In the end the evening went peacefully, though Chase did have an anxious moment when Cuddy came back from the bathroom and went straight to Dr Higa – and treated him more like House's father than John. However, whatever talk Blythe had had with her husband the night before seemed to still have an effect as John didn't say anything. He just gave the other group a glare, though it was possible that he could not have contained his anger had Blythe not come out of the kitchen right then and joined John and Chase.

But it would have been too good to be true had there not been a confrontation between John and House in the end. The ducklings had already gone home and Dr Higa was carrying Aiko into the flat when John stopped House for a word.

"You treat him more as the grandfather of your children than me," John stated angrily.

"He is Aiko's grandfather," House pointed out knowing full well what John meant, but hoping he would take the hint. He didn't.

"I was talking about your real children," John said.

"Currently I only have one child," House reminded John. "The other buns are still in the oven."

"Whatever," John dismissed the distinction. "You still behave like you would be happy for Higa to be their grandfather, too. While me, you are telling me that I won't even get anywhere near them."

"That is not what I'm telling you," House maintained. "Dr Higa is Aiko's grandfather. Nothing will change that. If he wants to be a grandfather to the triplets, too, we're happy to have him, but we cannot expect it of him as he isn't related to either me or Lisa. You, however, are my father, for you to be a grandfather you need to be it to all my children. I told you once before that you don't get to pick and choose."

"You are a cold-hearted bastard son," John spat at him in frustration.

"Well, genetics is a powerful force," House threw at his father as he limped into his own flat.


	18. Time to go

_Thank you for the reviews, and I'm sure you will be happy to hear that John is leaving this story – he will probably be mentioned a few times, but you won't be "seeing" him._

_------------------------------------------_

Next morning Blythe and John left the house early. They had an 8 o'clock appointment with Cecil. The session actually lasted so long that House, who had expected to see Blythe waiting for him in his office when he got to work, actually had to wait for Blythe. When she got to House's office she stood at the door for a moment and then she shook her head sadly. House was standing in the middle of the floor holding Aiko and he just opened one arm for his mother who walked to him and accepted his hug.

"Kasumii? Would you take Aiko to the other room?" House asked quietly. Kasumii nodded in agreement, took Aiko and went into the other room – giving Blythe first a sympathetic squeeze on the arm.

"He just won't understand anyone's point of view but his own," Blythe sighed.

"Are you ok, Mom?" House asked.

"I have just relegated forty years of my life into the garbage bin," Blythe mused. "No, I don't think I'm ok. But I'm pretty sure that I will be."

"Well, that's good," House agreed. "So what went on in the meeting?"

"Nothing constructive as far as my marriage is concerned," Blythe stated. "But I did get the answers I needed. Not as completely as I would have liked, but enough. I feel that I have done all I can. Or maybe I should say that I've done all I'm willing to do. According to John I ought to just leave it all into the past where it belongs and go home with him." Blythe suddenly laughed. "He blames Dr Higa for the present problems we have."

"Really?" House didn't understand. "By what leap of logic has he come to that conclusion?"

"According to him all our problems started when you adopted Aiko," Blythe shrugged. "If Dr Higa hadn't asked for your help, John and I would still be happily married and all this nonsense would never have happened."

"Well, I suppose he has a point," House had to admit. "Aiko was a catalyst for all this. But had there been nothing wrong, you would also still be married."

"Cecil believes that John is suffering from a borderline personality disorder," Blythe gave her son a small kiss on the cheek as she stood away from his embrace and sat down on the recliner while House went to his desk.

"Yes, I think I know," House pondered. "I believe it's called the Self-righteous Bastard syndrome."

"Gregory!" Blythe admonished with a small smile. "I'm being serious. Cecil thinks that John's ability to feel empathy is not fully developed. He thinks that John is truly not capable of seeing things from any other person's point of view; that is: if the other's point of view differs from his."

"As I said _self-righteous bastard syndrome_," House observed. "What you are saying is that to him there is only one truth and anything that does not fit into that _truth_ must be misinformation. And since you are in possession of that one truth, you don't need to question yourself or those you believe share that same truth. Must be a convenient quality for a soldier!"

"Gregory," Blythe frowned. "That sounds like you think all our military is formed of brainwashed robots or sociopaths."

"I didn't say it was a good quality, or even one the recruiters look for," House reassured his mother. "But you cannot say it didn't serve Dad well enough in his career. Don't worry, though, I met enough of his sane pals to know he wasn't the rule."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Blythe accepted.

"So am I to assume that Dad didn't stay with you till the end of your session?" House asked. "But that you and Cecil had an opportunity to analyze him after he left? That must be convenient, too by the way. If you are a shrink or a psychotherapist and your patient or someone else you need to deal with, doesn't do what you want them to do, you just diagnose them with borderline something or another – and lets face it, we all are borderline something – and just shrug it off, since the axiom is, I believe, that you cannot help those who don't want to be helped. None of it is your fault."

"Doesn't necessarily make your inability to help them any less painful," Blythe smiled gently earning a suspicious look from her son. And well she deserved it; John had not been the only man she had discussed with Cecil – and indeed Cecil had pondered if some of House's qualities weren't due to borderline _something_.

"I did consider that Dr House might have same problems as his father," Cecil had said. "But having found out more about him I concluded that he simply doesn't like talking about feelings since with feelings you don't really have any right or wrong. You don't have any real answers or solutions. He likes puzzles but the puzzles need to have answers. It's not a question of him not being able to empathise; he just doesn't see the point of it, especially if it interferes with his ability to solve the puzzle. He prefers to keep his distance, but it really is a choice. I think he functions as well as any of us: could be better, could be worse. I wish he would let me help him with some of his issues, because I think I could if he really wanted to, but I don't think that will ever happen."

"What?" House propped his mother. "What is it? Where did you go suddenly?"

"It's nothing, Greg," Blythe shook his head smiling. "I'm just glad you let me close to you."

"Mom, you are my Mother," House was puzzled. "Of course I let you close. Like you would accept anything else!"

"I might not accept it, but you might also not give me any choice," Blythe pointed out. "Anyway, John left the session to get his things. He will spend the rest of the day with a pal of his till it's time for his flight. He won't be around once we get home today."

"Can't say I'm sorry to hear that," House nodded. "So you will start the divorce proceedings again?"

"Yes, I'll call my lawyer today and we'll go from there," Blythe sighed. "It will not be pleasant."

"No, I don't imagine it will be," House concurred. "Though I don't think Dad will fight it too much. He will just go the _righteous martyr_ routine he does and drag his feet all the way. But then, divorce is not supposed to be pleasant, I imagine. However we will get through that, too."

"I know," Blythe smiled. "I think I better get to work. At least it should take my mind away from the dissolution of my marriage for a while. It's not easy to realise that you have thrown away forty years of your life. And some of your life, too."

"Now, don't take that on," House insisted. "I'm fine. Besides, you didn't throw away all that time. You were happy some of it."

"But that happiness was based on a lie," Blythe pointed out.

"Happiness is always based on some lie," House stated. "It's not possible to be happy if you see the truth too clearly. Don't blame yourself for having lived your life the best you can. That is all anyone can do. Now, go to work and try not to worry too much. See you here later and then we go home. I don't seem to have patients today either, so I'll just do my clinic hours and we'll get home at a reasonable hour."

"Ok, I'll try not to worry," Blythe promised as she left the office.

----------------------------

Once Blythe was gone House went into the conference room. He needed to talk to his team. What he was going to say was difficult for him, because his usual sarcasm wasn't going to work. Nor could he just give orders or tell them to give him ideas that he could then mock and then give them his own. Now he actually had to talk to them. Be the _father_ he sometimes – completely in jest – referred himself as. And unlike with Aiko, he didn't really know how the _kids_ were going to react.

He walked into the room and took Aiko from Kasumii. He hoped that the familiar warmth of his daughter would help him do what he knew he had to. Kasumii went into his office to finish getting things ready for Aiko's day so House was alone with his team – except for his miniature bodyguard. He rubbed his forehead trying to find an un-embarrassing way to start his speech.

"Look, I don't quite know how to do this, since I never have needed to do this," House started.

"What is it? Is something wrong with Aiko or...?" Cameron was all concern immediately.

"Hey, let him speak before you get all scared," Foreman advised her.

"Besides, I have a feeling that once he is done we'll need to be concerned for ourselves, not him or Aiko," Chase mused watching House's face.

"I hope nobody needs to be concerned for anybody, just listen," House growled. "Look, you have all been with me for about three years; Chase has been longer than that, Cameron just about that long and Foreman a little under three years. I never expected any of you to survive that long. Nor did anybody else. Chase was the first one who stayed six months. After that time Cuddy came to the mistaken conclusion that I had mellowed enough for her to risk forcing me to take a second fellow. She failed to take into consideration the fact that Chase simply has a high tolerance for (_at this point House covered Aiko's ears, which made his team smile_) bastards. Anyway, Cameron came along and as I liked her ass she stayed. No point in huffing Cameron, it's a great ass, even better than Cuddy's though your cleavage doesn't hold a candle to hers. Then Foreman joined us and he was just determined that no white guy was going to force him out of a fellowship before he was ready. The thing is; I think you have lost your ability to decide when you are ready. All of you. You need to start thinking about your next move."

"Are you kicking us out?" Foreman stared at House – like both Chase and Cameron did, too.

"No. I'm not doing that," House clarified. "If I hadn't got Aiko; if you weren't part of her family – if this was before all that happened, then yes, I would probably kick you out once you were ready, no explanations given. But Aiko needs you. You are part of her family, so I cannot do that. I have to make sure that I don't screw things up for her."

"So what is it that you are telling us?" Cameron wondered.

"I'm telling you that you are ready to leave the nest – or at least you and Chase are. Chase has learned everything he can by now; you have learned everything you want. Foreman is the only one who can still learn something from me, but even he should be ready to go in six months or so," House told her.

"Why am I not ready now?" Foreman wanted to know.

"They have both been here longer than you have," House pointed out sharply. "Besides, you have some issues you need to deal with before you can learn everything I can teach you."

"Issues being what?" Foreman narrowed his eyes at House.

"Your fear of turning into him, I would imagine," Chase inserted.

"We can discuss those in private if you insist," House told Foreman. "But right now they don't matter. I'm not kicking you out right now anyway – any of you. I just want you to start thinking about what it is you want. Cuddy is starting her maternity leave next week, but she will be back in six months. Around that time there will also be couple of interesting openings in the hospital. There are also rumours about couple of interesting posts opening at Princeton General. That is if you want to stay close by. You don't need to; you will be part of Aiko's family no matter where you decide to go and you will be expected to keep in touch with her – and the triplets, too once they arrive."

"What if we want to stay with you?" Cameron ventured.

"Then I will kick you out," House stated. "You knew the fellowship wasn't going to last forever anyway. You came here to learn, you have done that. Time to move on; either use what you have learned or find someone who can teach you something I haven't."

"I thought you didn't think anyone else can teach us anything," Foreman huffed – feeling a little sore still about being the only one who wasn't ready to leave.

"Not when it comes to diagnostics," House agreed. "But there are other fields of medicine that you might want to learn about. It's up to you. As I said you need to start thinking about it. Anyway, that was all I wanted to say. Subject closed."

"But once we have made our decision, don't you want to know?" Cameron stuttered.

"Naturally," House shrugged. "I expect to get normal letters of resignation from you when you know what you are going to do next. Until then I don't really need to know – unless of course you need letters of recommendation. Until you resign, you are still my slaves, so go do my clinic hours."

"I thought you were doing them yourself until Cuddy goes on her maternity leave?" Chase frowned.

"Her last day at work is tomorrow," House explained. "Do you really think Sherry Darling will notice in one day that I'm not always doing my own hours? Especially as I'm sure that even Evil Nurse Brenda is not going to carry tales to HIM."


	19. House warming

_Thanks again for the time you took to review. – About the theme song for the previous chapter (18)__; in my mind it was: __Hit the road, Jack / And don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more / Hit the road, Jack / And don't you come back no more / (What you say?) / Hit the road, Jack / And don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more / Hit the road, Jack / And don't you come back no more. _

_You can find a Ray Charles performance of it in __You tube :)_

-----------------------------------------

On Friday, her last day at work before taking her maternity leave, Cuddy was ready to commit murder by noon. Not that anything special had happened; in fact everything had gone very smoothly. The problem was the quiet, smug gloating that was radiating from Sheridan J. Rawls. All the necessary papers were done, all the instructions that Cuddy wanted to give him were given and had it been anyone else, she would have left for the day, but she was damned if she was voluntarily vacating her own office any sooner than necessary. Fortunately House came to the rescue – no matter how unlikely _knight in shining armour_ he was.

"Cuddy, need you," House put his head into the office where Cuddy was reading some final papers and subtly ignoring Sheridan.

"What is it?" Cuddy queried.

"Oh, come on," House whined. "We are not going to bore dear Sheridan with things medical. Leave him to deal with things he can understand and come out. I need a consult from the Dean of Medicine and I cannot wait till Monday when Wilson's stint starts."

"Fine," Cuddy pretended to be humouring House, though she was happy to leave Sheridan to his own devices. If she was lucky, he would screw something up right away! "If that's what you need."

House escorted her out of the hospital towards a small restaurant nearby; they had sometimes lunched there.

"Thank you," Cuddy told him. "I really needed to get away from him. So, are we just having lunch or do you actually need to consult me about something?"

"Well, I suppose you could call it lunch if you really want," House mused as he opened the door to the place. As he did so, several people yelled _Surprise!_ "The hospital staff figured that since you're having triplets you really deserve a proper baby-shower and I promised to deliver you. Of course, had I found the _Mother of All Monsters_ in your office, I would have called in and told them to run for their lives."

Cuddy felt that she really ought to have had a cutting response to that one, but she just couldn't come up with anything; she was too touched by the trouble everyone had gone to! The place was decorated with blue and pink balloons and flowers. There was food and cake and presents and festive and happy atmosphere and no Sheridan or Janelle in sight! Half the hospital was present, and the other half had promised to show up as soon as the first half went back to release them. There was live music: a pianist and a singer performing golden oldies, jazz and easy listening. Though it was clearly a baby-shower, there was nothing too cutesy about it.

"Oh, my," Cuddy looked around at the smiling faces. "This is so exactly what I needed today! Thank you, thank you all!"

Anna came over to her with a glass of bubbly: "Here, non-alcoholic for you, but it's still bubbly. And just in case Sheridan finds out about this and decides to join us with his little floozy, the cake has been frosted with my special chilli-chocolate frosting. Don't worry, you won't taste the chilli, but it's there, just in case."

"Anna, you are the only person who I know who is even better when she is evil than when she is good," Cuddy smiled and took the glass.

"Hey, what do you mean _only_?" House wanted to know as he escorted Cuddy to the table where a waiter was ready to serve her. She was the only one with a personal waiter, others had to fend for themselves, but there was plenty of food, so nobody minded.

"When you are evil, you are just evil," Cuddy informed House and sat down.

"I resent that," House pouted as he joined her at the table – the Household (Blythe, Dr Higa, the ducklings, Anna and Wilson plus Kasumii and Grey) were already sitting there. "I may not be _good_ exactly when I'm evil, but I am fun!"

"Well, I suppose I have to admit that **sometimes** you are," Cuddy conceded before attacking her meal. But before she had actually started she looked around herself with a puzzled frown: "Where's Aiko?"

"Doing her trophy round," Chase smiled.

"Doing what?" House frowned too.

"The nurses wanted to adore her," Foreman smiled a little patronisingly, which earned him an amused look from Cameron – who had seen him do his share of adoring where Aiko was concerned.

"Brenda has her," Cameron reassured Cuddy. "She is in good hands."

"You gave my daughter into the hands of Evil Nurse Brenda?" House exclaimed. "Have you no idea how that woman could corrupt my poor baby!"

"I have not corrupted her," Brenda's voice came from behind House. "I haven't even told her anything about your true nature." She handed Aiko carefully to House, who was happy to greet his daughter.

"Hello, Little Love," House said softly. "Did you like your tour?" Aiko cooed something in response. "Oh, good. I'm glad everybody liked you." Then Aiko seemed to explain something to her Daddy. "I see! Yes, people can be stupid sometimes." To which Aiko gave an earnest opinion. "But that's because they don't know me as well as you do." Aiko frowned as she pondered on something, and then she babbled something. "Yes, you are right. Your opinion is all that matters." To which Aiko gave a nod and then she settled against he Daddy to observe the proceedings of the party.

"You..." Foreman – like all the others – had watched the exchange half-believing that House really did _speak Aiko_, though they knew better (right?). "That... never mind."

"Just go with it," Cuddy told him having seen these conversations before; she hadn't been able to decide if House and Aiko really had conversations or if that exchange was just a game they both enjoyed (and which did develop Aiko's interaction skills). "Now, let's eat."

Once she had eaten she wanted to see her presents; looking them over took some time, even though most came from groups of people – doctors and nurses of the same department, and so on. But since she was expecting triplets, she also got three of almost everything. She loved it all. After that, the time was spent talking and circulating– by the time Cuddy had got through the presents the shift at the hospital had changed and there were new people who wanted to talk to her.

"Excuse me for a moment," House had stayed close to her all the time (the others had dispersed all over the party), partly to monitor that she wasn't overdoing things, but now he excused himself for a moment. Cuddy saw him go to the pianist and say something to him, give a tip and then he returned.

"What?" Cuddy eyed him a little suspiciously.

"Just made a request," House shrugged innocently as he took Aiko and went towards the restrooms with her – she had been showing signs that she wanted to be changed.

As House left the table Brenda and few of the other nurses came to Cuddy with a fairly large parcel.

"We know this is a baby-shower, but we decided that you need a house-warming gift, too," Brenda explained as she handed the gift to Cuddy.

"Thank you! But you really didn't need to, I have received more than enough gifts today," Cuddy exclaimed but she still opened the package. She looked inside and blinked: "Oh! You meant a _House_-warming gift. I ..." Cuddy stared at the sexy outfit resting among the tissues a little uncertainly. It was ... hot! But ...

"We know. You have consistently told us that your relationship with House isn't like that," Brenda said as the others nodded in support. "But we think it should be. I mean, you and House live in a beautiful home..."

"He has his own flat," Cuddy inserted.

"But it's in the same house," Brenda insisted. "You have kids together; you really should have sex together, too. And that's what this is for: give him some ideas, please!"

"I don't think giving House ideas would be the problem," Cuddy pointed out. "But as you said, we have kids together. This, if we end up as more than just co-parents, we need to think it through very carefully!"

"Up to you," Brenda reassured Cuddy. "We just wanted to give you some encouragement! Besides, even if you won't use it for him, we think you need a reminder that you won't be pregnant forever. You will want to wear something like that again! Trust me, I know."

"I suppose," Cuddy smiled. "Thank you. It is HOT, and I do love it. But ... the rest of your suggestion, I really have to think it through very carefully."

As soon as Cuddy had seen the outfit she had remembered her _super-tanker_-conversation with House the other night, but that was private and if something was developing between her and House, it was still too new and tentative for her to talk about it to others; she wasn't even sure it was something she could talk about to House – yet. She didn't know how House had taken the conversation; was he still thinking that she had said those things just to distract him, to make him forget his father's words. He hadn't said anything since then, not even an innuendo had passed his lips on the subject. Cuddy looked up and saw House returning with Aiko and she quickly closed the box and gave it to Brenda to hide among the other gifts that House's team was packing up for transport to home. Brenda took the other women with her so Cuddy was alone at the table when House and Aiko reached her.

Just as House got to Cuddy, the singer finished a song she had been singing and went right on to the next song, which after a few words made Cuddy glare at House hard enough to put him six feet under – if only glares could do that! (Though this one came really close.) Talk about innuendo! And House just smirked at her as the words of the song floated to them:

_When my dreamboat__ comes home / and my dream no more will roam / I will meet you and I'll greet you / when my dreamboat comes home / Moonlit waters will sing / cause that tender love you'll bring / we will be sweethearts, yes forever / when my dreamboat comes home / When my dreamboat, comes home / and my dream no more will roam / I will meet you and I'll greet you / when my dreamboat comes home / Moonlit waters will sing / cause that tender love you'll bring / we will be sweethearts, yes forever / when my dreamboat comes home_

"Why didn't you just make a public announcement?" Cuddy hissed angrily at House.

"Cuddy, my dear," House smirked at her. "It's just a song. Nobody will think nothing of it – unless YOU give them reason otherwise."

Cuddy had to admit that he had a point, so she satisfied herself with another glare and then settled down to ignore him and the song. Though secretly she was a little pleased that House apparently did remember the conversation and might be thinking of doing something about it. But she had no intention of making things too easy for him – and especially she had no intention of making a fool of herself in case she read too much to his actions.

Before Cuddy could tie herself into mental knots about it Miss Hill joined them at the table.

"Where did you disappear to?" House wanted to know.

"I just took a piece of cake in a box to my desk at work," Anna replied with wide, innocent gaze. "I thought I'd take some home and eat it tonight. Having a sweet tooth and all."

"To your desk?" House smiled. "What do you think are the chances that it will still be there when you go back?"

"Slim," Anna acknowledged. "But I am such a trusting person, you know."

"Are you setting Ms Forbes up again!" Cuddy asked Anna.

"Well, if you have an allergy," Anna replied earnestly. "Then the last thing you ought to do is to steal food from a person who you know loves the very food that you are allergic to! One would think that Janelle would have learned that lesson by now."

"I hear repetition is the mother of learning," House observed.

"Then let's hope she learns!" Anna nodded.

"Everything is packed for transport," Cameron came to them to tell Cuddy. "Do you want to come with us or do you want to stay here still?"

"I think I'll come home," Cuddy decided. "I've seen everybody and I'm getting a bit tired. It has been lovely. I just need to..."

"No you don't," Anna interrupted. "I got your things from your office for you. Besides, if you left something behind you can get it tomorrow when the men come to move your things from your office to make room for Sheridan."

"Ok, thank you Anna," Cuddy accepted. She left the party with the House-hold and to the sound of cheery goodbyes and see-you-soons.

---------------------------

"Right, you can take all the presents to the green room upstairs," House told his team and Wilson as they got home. "The blue room will be Cuddy's office until she goes back to work. The yellow room will be the nursery for the Triplets and the apricot room is Aiko's."

"My office?" Cuddy frowned at House. "What do you mean?"

"I have arranged for your office to be moved in here in its entirety," House shrugged nonchalantly.

"My office?" Cuddy parroted again.

"Have you swallowed a parrot or something?" House teased her but then relented. "Tomorrow the furnishings and everything from your office will be brought here. I know you won't be doing any hospital work, but I seriously doubt you can spend the next six months totally absorbed with maternal things. You need a place where you can work, read medical articles, get on top of your specialities again, and do research ... things like that. In addition to that, you don't really want Sheridan to contaminate your things, so they will be safe here. Besides, having you _move out_ of the hospital will give Sheridan a false sense of security which makes the shock bigger when he finds out that he is anything but secure. And personally I cannot wait to see Sherry Darling's face when he gets to work Monday morning and finds that his office has been stripped bare of everything but the desk and chair that were originally brought into your office for him when he arrived. And I will see it, since I told the men to take the blinds as well."

"I take it back," Cuddy said filled with awe. "You **are** good when you are evil."

"Welcome home, MamaLisa," House smiled.

-----------------------------------------

_I will not give a better description of the hot outfit in that box. I will leave it to your imagination. If Cuddy ends up modelling it for House at some point of this story (or at any point in your imagination, after all who knows what happens behind closed doors!) I will refer to it only as the outfit that she got from the women._


	20. Ours is not to reason why or is it?

_Thank you for the lovely reviews. I just hope House's antics wil__l, in time, live up to your expectations!_

--------------------------

When the ducklings came back down for the last time after having taken Cuddy's presents upstairs they found that House, Aiko and Dr Higa had gone into House's flat.

"I think they both have had enough company for one day," Blythe explained on her way to the kitchen. "They are actually rather solitary men, both of them."

"Besides, they want some time alone with Aiko," Kasumii observed. She, too, was leaving the room only not for the kitchen but upstairs – to make Aiko's room ready. "House promised that Aiko will sleep in her own room tonight."

"You think he will keep that promise?" Chase wondered.

"Why not?" Foreman queried. "I'm surprised he hasn't moved her in there sooner."

"You still don't get it, do you," Cameron shook her head at Foreman.

"Get what?" Foreman asked her.

"Nothing!" Came the chorus of answers from everyone.

"If Greg was Aiko's mother, would you wonder at his reactions?" Wilson pointed out.

"Well, no," Foreman shrugged. "But he isn't. He is... He's House."

"And you still cannot see past your prejudice to the real man, can you?" Chase mused.

"Are you telling me he isn't a selfish jerk?" Foreman challenged.

"Sure he is, but there is much more to him, too," Chase responded calmly.

"Really," Foreman sneered. "And is it that _much more_ that made him fire us?"

"What!" Cuddy sat up in attention. "What are you talking about?"

"He didn't fire us," Cameron insisted. "He just told us that if we are not gone or ready to go in six months time **then** he will fire us."

"Ok, explain!" Cuddy demanded.

"We don't really know how to explain," Chase replied. "He told us yesterday that we are ready and that we need to start thinking of our next move. That when you come back to the hospital, we better have our next step planned or he will push us out of the nest without a plan."

"He didn't think **I** was ready, though," Foreman still felt the sting.

"You have been with him the shortest time," Cameron pointed out.

"Besides, he did say that you would be ready in six month's time, too," Chase said. "By then you either have learned everything he thinks you need or you are never going to learn it."

"Says the blue-eyed-boy," Foreman with some belligerence though he didn't really direct it at Chase.

"Hey, I know I'm not your favourite person in the world, but my blue eyes have nothing to do with the fact that House thinks I've learned everything he can teach me," Chase insisted.

"What I really would like to know is what have I failed to learn!" Foreman exclaimed. "He hasn't exactly been teaching us anything; just expecting us to act as his audience."

"And learn from what we see," Cameron stated.

"No," Chase recognised. "He hasn't expected us to learn **from** what we see; he has expected us to learn **how** to see."

"You mean his insistence that you learn to see outside the box," Wilson caught on to Chase's meaning.

"Among other things," Chase nodded. "Also to see what is important."

"But how does that make him fire you?" Cuddy wanted to know.

"Maybe he is teaching us yet another, mysterious lesson," Foreman suggested.

"No," Chase decided. "I think he doesn't need us anymore. We are superfluous to requirement, now. We have actually shown him that we can make a diagnosis on our own; that we can go against his orders; against the obvious answers, against odds and stay with the patient and his symptoms until we are satisfied that everything has been done. Sure, we did it for the wrong reason but we did it."

"You are talking about the brain cancer case, aren't you?" Cameron asked.

"But it wasn't even him! He lied to us, to us all," Foreman exclaimed.

"That's why I said we did it for the wrong reason," Chase nodded. "We didn't stop until we had explored all options because we thought it was House! He does that for his patients no matter who they are just because he wants to be sure he has found all the answers that are there. We have shown him that we can do it, too. So there is no point in us staying with him anymore."

"You are making no sense," Cuddy maintained. "You are telling me that now that you can really contribute to the diagnosing process, now that you really know what you are doing and can actually help him, he wants you gone?"

"I don't think we can help him," Chase denied. "He doesn't need help. Now that we really could help him he probably sees it as a waste when we should be out there working on the people that don't get to him. We were a great sounding board for him, but he can do all the diagnosing himself. The only point of having us around was to teach us things. If it wasn't for the teaching aspect, we could be replaced by trained monkeys as far as he is concerned."

"You're not objecting to that analysis?" Foreman stared at Cuddy who had nodded ruefully.

"Can't," She shrugged. "I've seen him do it. Well, not trained monkeys, but a twelve year old boy, a man who knew only enough English to tell him that he didn't understand any and a randomly chosen woman who hated his guts on sight."

"Oh," Foreman didn't really know how else to react to that piece of information.

"So fine, we don't need his teaching anymore," Cameron admitted. "But we are a good team; why break us up? Couldn't he just ... I don't know, make us take all the cases he doesn't want and get new fellows to teach. Why tell us to go?"

"You know, when I was watching the DVDs of _The Lord of the Rings_ I was puzzled at something they said in the extras. I think it was one of the actors who said that Jackson believed that the Elves were leaving because _the human experiment had failed_!" Chase mulled over. "I found that totally incompatible with my own reading of the book. I had always seen the Elves as Guardians of man. And you don't need a guardian anymore once you become of age. And sometimes, if the guardian is a very authoritative figure – either because you fear him or because you respect his knowledge and wisdom too much – he can prevent you from becoming ... well you! The Elves had to leave or Man would have been less; would never have found his own way. I think House feels that way, too. That he has to kick us away or his _guardianship_ will stunt our development; perhaps even make us into his clones or mindless minions. We won't grow into the doctors we can be."

"You're right," Wilson said after a short nearly stunned silence. "You need to get away from him before you turn into his clone."

"What?" Chase hadn't expected quite that reaction.

"That was a very House-like thing to do," Cuddy agreed with Wilson. "Tell a story that at first seems to have nothing to do with the subject at hand, but then tie it up so that it illustrates your point exactly. Mind you, House would never have used that particular story, but that is just a detail."

"I'm not the one everybody worries is turning into House!" Chase exclaimed. "Foreman is the one who is afraid of that!"

"Which is why I have managed to avoid it," Foreman noted. "But apparently it has been sneaking up on you unnoticed."

"You say it like it's a bad thing?" Cameron frowned. "We were here to learn; in fact we **came** here to learn to be like him as doctors. But we can pick and choose and if Chase can pick the good and leave the bad then more power to him. Besides, I've done my share of storytelling, too. Why doesn't that turn me into House?"

"Because your stories are personal stuff," Foreman pointed out. "You talk about your aunts and brothers and such. Things House would never share with anyone." Foreman paused and thought for a moment. "Though he did once tell me that he had a funny uncle."

"He did?" Wilson was all ears. That House had shared something like that with Foreman was astonishing.

"Mind you, it was only in passing," Foreman shrugged. "We were treating that supermodel whose father had ... well, you know. Anyway I wondered why he jumped to that conclusion and he said it was because he used to have a funny uncle. I naturally assumed he, too, had been abused but he shot that idea down fast enough. Turned out that the uncle wasn't sexually abusive just full of dirty jokes."

"All of which he apparently learned by heart," Cameron sighed in disgust.

Chase didn't comment, but he gave Cuddy and Wilson a searching look. He thought that something had passed between them when Foreman had mentioned abuse in connection with House. It had been fleeting, but he was sure it was there. Only he wasn't sure if he wanted to know more about it.

"Whatever," Chase shrugged after a moment. "There is more to House than telling stories."

"Yeah, there is breaking every rule of ethics or morals known to man," Foreman was still in a grumpy mood.

"He may be unconventional," Cuddy admitted. "But he does put the patients first. Everything he does he does to get to the right diagnosis as soon as possible. Sure it seems to be all about the puzzle, but he wants to solve the puzzle before the patient dies! That is why it's so urgent to him."

"Besides, it's not only for the purposes of the diagnosis that he can risk everything," Chase pointed out. "Even once he knows what is wrong with the patient he still goes all out for them."

"What are you talking about," Foreman doubted.

"If you don't know, then I'm not telling you," Chase stated. "I ratted him once to Vogler; once he was gone I was sure I would be next. Only I wasn't. Sure House tortured me, but he kept me on. I'm not ratting him to anyone again."

"I may have an idea of what you are talking about," Wilson mused. "But even if I'm wrong about that particular case, I've seen him do it for others. He does care about the patients – in his own peculiar way. And it really isn't enough for him to save their lives; he wants to improve their quality of life, too, if possible. And it may be because he doesn't care too much, that he can see so clearly. Who else would have thought that giving up an amazing musical talent in order to be able to button one's own shirt was a fair trade? But it was."

"Eric," Cuddy turned to Foreman. "There are worse things than to turning into House."

"I don't think I like the price, though," Foreman said. "I don't think it's worth it. He does save lives others don't; even can't. But he also risks them in ways I'm not sure I can live with."

"Are you sure it's House you are afraid of?" Wilson mused. "I mean, you don't really see him clearly. You still don't see how Aiko has affected him; brought things to light about him that nobody – except his mother – suspected he had. Have you asked yourself why you are so blind to him? In some respects, I mean. What is it about turning into him that you fear?"

"He is a selfish jerk!" Foreman exclaimed feeling a little cornered. "Who wants to be that!"

"According to every one of your ex-girlfriends those words describe you to a T," Cameron observed dryly. "So if that is what you fear; too late, I'm afraid."

"I think Wilson may be right," Cuddy agreed. "You really need to sit down and think what it is you fear. I don't think it's House – or becoming him, if you want to be accurate. It's something that he seems to represent to you. And that might be what prevents you from learning – whatever it is House thinks you still need to learn."

"Had I known I would end up being psychoanalysed I would have stayed in the hospital," Foreman huffed. "I'm sure there are plenty of patients waiting to be treated on the clinic."

"Psychobabble is a risk you run in this Household," Wilson pointed out. "Or why do you think House has a flat of his own where he can hide behind locked doors and _no trespassing_ signs?"

"It's just that we do care," Cameron sympathised with Foreman.

Before the conversation got any further, Cuddy's cell phone peeped to tell her a message had arrive. She read it and started to laugh: "Oh, I so agree with you Anna!"

"What?" The others wanted to know.

"Anna thinks that attaching a camera to the phone was the best invention since sliced bread," Cuddy explained turning her phone so that all could see the photo that had accompanied the message.

Ms Forbes had apparently found the slice of cake Anna had planted in the office – and apparently it had been quite a large piece, since Janelle's face was nearly covered with ugly blotches and she was obviously trying hard not to scratch them.

"Oh, this is just too perfect!" Cuddy laughed – as did everyone else, too.


	21. Lovely Monday

Monday was everything House – and pretty much the rest of the hospital – had expected. House had made a special effort and gone to work on time. He had even managed to get to the hospital at the same time as Sheridan. He actually walked in through the doors with him. As they walked through the clinic towards Cuddy's old and Sheridan's present office, House looked ahead through the glass doors into the room bare of everything but a simple desk and a chair. Even the anteroom had been stripped bare of everything but a desk and a chair.

"Hey, your decorators seem to have failed to show up during the week-end!" House exclaimed with totally fake concern.

"My decorators?" Sheridan looked at him puzzled. "Why would I have needed decorators...?" His voice died down as he, too, looked ahead and saw the desolate state of his office. House had had even the carpet removed. "What happened to my office?"

"Dr Cuddy emptied it for you," House stated. "You were told that you can decorate the office any way you like, weren't you?"

"Yes, but I declined the offer," Sheridan looked like he would have wanted to cry. "I had no problems with the office as it was!"

"Oh," House shrugged. "I suppose you forgot to mention it to Dr Cuddy. She took it for granted that you had hired decorators for this week-end, so she made sure her things were out of the way."

"Ms Forbes was supposed to take care of it," Sheridan was still in shock. "She told me that she had given the message to Miss Hill!"

"Really?" House was surprised (sure he was). "Miss Hill is usually so reliable; it's difficult to believe that she would have forgotten something like that. Could there be a misunderstanding of some sort?"

"Who cares!" Sheridan nearly yelled. "It doesn't matter how it happened, I can find that out later. Right now I don't have an office and I set up meetings with all the department heads for today! How am I supposed to have meetings in a fish-bowl! And empty fish-bowl, come to that. There aren't even any shades on the windows anymore."

"Well, I suppose you could book one of the conference rooms for the day," House mused. "Oh, wait, they are all booked! The international workshops Dr Cuddy arranged for this week take up all the rooms. I think you have to change your plans and instead of having all the heads come to you, you have to go to them. But I would get Ms Forbes find me a decorator today, if I were you." With that House continued to the lifts with a wide smile on his face – that, though, Sheridan did not see.

------------------------

"I saw Ms Forbes arrive," Cameron nearly gloated as she came into the conference room. She had been the first to come to work that morning, but knowing the usual time at which Ms Forbes came to work, she had found a reason to be in the lobby when that happened. "I thought for a moment that her jaw was actually going to hit the floor. She was appalled! And very unhappy that she had to _slum_ it for the rest of the day. I'm fairly sure that her first priority is to get her own space done and Sherry Darling will come a very distant second in her plans."

"How was she?" Chase wanted to know. "Were the blotches still as bad as on Friday?"

"Nearly gone, I'm afraid," Cameron reported. "What little there was left of them she was able to cover with make-up."

"Damn," Foreman swore. "I was so hoping for the sight of her sitting in that fish-bowl with her face covered in red blotches. Well, at least her week-end was ruined thanks to Miss Hill."

"I was looking forward to that sight, too," Cameron mourned. "Well, she still had a very bad morning. As soon as she got in, Sheridan collared her and they had a humdinger of a fight. They did try to stay out of sight, but with no blinds, they didn't quite make it. Too bad we couldn't hear what was said. Anyway, Ms Forbes flounced out of there to the cafeteria in high dudgeon. And I have a feeling Sheridan is going to need to do a lot of grovelling before he is back in her good graces."

"It's always risky having an affair with the daughter of the man on whose good will your job hangs," House pondered. "Of course, he is seriously overestimating Mr Forbes' power in the board. Especially if something were to happen to put a strain on the continued good will between Misters Forbes and Taunton. Though I cannot imagine what could possibly separate such good and long time friends."

"You are not going to out them, are you?" Cameron was suddenly concerned. "I mean, I don't care about Sheridan and Janelle – or even her father, but Sheridan's wife! And Janelle's husband! They are innocent in all this. They don't deserve to be hurt."

"They have already been hurt," House pointed out with utter seriousness. "They just don't know it yet. And I don't think I need to out those two. They are already beginning to show signs of carelessness. They haven't been caught yet, so they think they never will be."

"Besides, Janelle looks like the sort of woman who wouldn't care if they were caught," Chase observed. "She likes stealing things, and part of the fun in stealing husbands is that people know you did it. That you have the power to steal somebody else's man."

"I thought from the beginning that Sheridan's main attraction to her was that he was taken," Miss Hill joined the conversation from the doorway. "And I agree: they won't need any _outing_."

"Good morning Miss Hill," House greeted her affably. "And how are you this wonderful Monday?"

"I'm just peachy," Miss Hill responded in dulcet tones. "It's such a pleasure to come to work in a big, attractive, well-decorated office, don't you think?"

"Absolutely," House couldn't agree more. "The furnishings do make the office. The feel of a soft carpet under your foot, the welcoming arms of a familiar recliner, the soothing colours of the curtains and the reassuring privacy provided by the blinds are so essential to a successful day in an office. You are so right."

"Stop it, you two," Cameron insisted before she choked on her laughter. Chase and Foreman were having similar problems, too. Cameron turned to Anna: "But what I want to know is how you will get away with it? Sheridan is out for blood and he can't take Janelle's so you are next on the line."

"Hah! He needs to be up really early in the morning if he thinks to get any of my blood," Anna scorned. "He's not the first insolent little puppy I've led up the garden path. You see, it was the day after the first chocolate incident between me and Ms Forbes that Sheridan decided the matter so Ms Forbes and I were really snippy with each other still and when she informed me that Mr Rawls liked the office and Dr Cuddy wouldn't need to do more than remove her personal things out of there **I** informed her that **everything** in that office was personal to Dr Cuddy and to tell that to Mr Rawls. That was the entire conversation. Now I'm sure nobody can fault me if Ms Forbes didn't understand me!"

"But he won't blame Ms Forbes," Chase pointed out. "He can't, because of her father. He will come after you!"

"Sure he will, but my contract says that only Dr Cuddy **or** the Dean of Medicine can fire me," Anna told them. "Now do you think either Dr Cuddy or Dr Wilson will do that?"

"But couldn't he take it to the board?" Foreman suspected. "Surely they can fire you over Cuddy and Wilson's heads."

"I'm sure they can," Anna was unconcerned. "But if you were jockeying for a permanent position as the head of this hospital would you go to the board and say that your secretary is having problems with Dr Wilson's secretary and would the board please deal with it?"

"That wouldn't give them a very good impression of your administrative skills, now would it," House pointed out.

"True," Foreman agreed. "It does seem you're safe! Excellent."

"Does anyone know what Sheridan is going to do with the meetings he set up for today?" Chase wanted to know.

"That's why I'm here," Anna responded. "Dr Wilson has a patient but he wanted to know if you have received the memo, too."

"No," House shook his head. "Haven't seen it. Of course, Cameron hasn't read my email yet, so it could be there."

"It probably is," Anna nodded. "Anyway, Sheridan is trying to move the meetings to tomorrow."

"Which he will find is impossible," House smiled. "Since everybody is so busy with the launching of Cuddy's international programme."

"Precisely," Anna smiled back. "If he wants to have them this week, he needs to do them today."

"And today he doesn't have an office, so he has to come to us," House sighed in satisfaction: it was always nice to see a plan unfold perfectly. "This immediately puts him in a disadvantage, authoritatively speaking."

"It's almost too perfect," Anna agreed.

"Almost," House said. "And we do have to take that into consideration next time. Sheridan is not an idiot, we have just been able to blindside him for now. If we try something as elaborate as this again, we need to be really careful."

"I don't think we need to do anything this big again," Anna pointed out. "Besides, we cannot expect the department heads to work with us again. This was easy, because they all wanted to have an advantage over Sheridan – something they never have with Dr Cuddy, though they have tried hard enough. But as I said, we won't need to do anything like this again, since it will take Sheridan the next six months to regain the ground he will loose today."

"But what if he doesn't do the meeting today?" Cameron asked. "What if he schedules them for next week?"

"That would be the smart thing to do," House nodded. "But I'm fairly sure he will not think of that as he is too rattled because of the office and the fight with Ms Forbes. I think he will want to show that he has some control over something on his first day at work. Of course, the ideal thing to happen would be that he meets with a couple of the heads and then rethinks his situation – having realised that in somebody else's office he isn't as much in control of the situation as he wants to – and then arranges the rest of the meetings for next week. If he does that, I won't need to do a damn thing for the rest of the six months: the power politics between different departments will do it all for me."

"Let's hope for that," Anna wished as she turned to go back to Wilson's office. "By the way, I disagree with your assessment of Sheridan. He is an idiot. Only an idiot would have anything to do with Ms Forbes."

"Doesn't that make her husband an idiot, too?" Cameron frowned.

"I understand they married young," Anna shrugged. "Everybody's an idiot when young."

-------------------------

The plan unfolded beautifully. And it went exactly as Anna and House had hoped: Sheridan was an idiot and rescheduled some of the meetings to next week. But even with all the fun going on with Sheridan; with all his plans coming to fruition House wasn't gloating. Sure he had been elated at first, but as the day wore on, he got more and more glum. The ducklings even saw him take an extra Vicodin, which hadn't happened in months.

"What's wrong with him?" Foreman frowned. "He should be gloating all over the place, explaining to us the brilliance of his plan and how perfectly he predicted Sheridan's reactions and making plans for the next phase of the campaign. He should be crowing in glee and stealing food from the cafeteria – you know!"

"I know, I don't understand this," Cameron agreed.

"I have a theory," Chase mused as he watched House pace his office.

"Well, share!" Foreman invited.

"No, I don't think so," Chase refused. "I need some proof. And I think I will soon get it."

The others looked at him half-angry, half-puzzled but before they could come up with a way to force him to co-operate the lift doors opened and Kasumii came out of the lift with Aiko. Kasumii was carrying a basket with some food and Aiko's bottle in it. As soon as the lift door opened House was out of his office and making his best speed for Aiko. Aiko too was eager for their meeting; as soon as she saw her Daddy she was cooing in joy and trying to reach for him. House got to her and lifter her into his arms. The moment he felt the familiar weight and warmth of his daughter in his arms he visibly breathed easier.

"Hello, Little Love," He greeted Aiko. Aiko said something back and House listened. "I know, I missed you too, but I'm sure you had a very nice day with your Nanny and MamaLisa." Again Aiko responded. "Yes, I know it's not quite the same as coming to work with me, but we have to start changing the routines to accommodate your siblings once they arrive." Aiko pouted and babbled something. "No, we cannot cancel them now. We don't even want to. You will love them once they are here, I promise." Aiko muttered something. "Really, I promise you. It will be fun!"

"We brought you your lunch," Kasumii decided to enter the conversation. "But you cannot eat it here, in the corridor."

"I suppose not," House agreed. "Aiko, will you let Kasumii carry you to my office so we can eat?"

Aiko frowned a little but didn't protest as House handed her to Kasumii but as soon as they were in House's office again, she indicated that she wanted her Daddy. House complied and in the end they had lunch together: House eating his lunch with one hand while holding Aiko who was drinking her milk.

The ducklings had observed the proceedings in silence and once House went into his office with Aiko and Kasumii Foreman and Cameron turned to Chase.

"Was that what you were waiting for?" Cameron asked.

"And what did that prove, then, if anything?" asked Foreman.

"It proved my theory: House was suffering from Aiko-withdrawal," Chase concluded.


	22. Words

_Thank you for your reviews. _

_I was hoping to have been further along with this story by now, but "they" control me more than I them, and they refused to be hurried along! I'm going away from my computer for about two weeks in the beginning of July – and of course, the weekend when Harry Potter comes out, I'm not doing anything House. Sorry – but House is not my only addiction. But I will try to update as much as I can before then and as soon as those things are out of the way, I will concentrate on this story again. But for now, here's the next chapter._

_-------------_

After the Monday House went back to his old routines; he got to work late – as he had all the time, but Sheridan had been under the impression that it had been a temporary arrangement because of Aiko. He avoided his clinic hours (with great success since it took a while for Sheridan to figure out that he really had to physically find House to get him to the clinic and once he realised that, he still had to find House). When he did get to the clinic, he insulted nearly every patient and half of them stormed to see Sheridan demanding an apology – so far, Sheridan hadn't found a way to make House to apologise.

Sheridan had tried to make House toe the line. He had actually suspended House's right to order procedures, but as House hadn't had any patients at that time it was a futile gesture. All it did was give House one more reason for not doing his clinic hours: what would have been the point as he couldn't even order any tests? Sheridan had to rescind his order without gaining anything. It also meant that he had already wasted his most powerful weapon (and he didn't even know it!) and had nothing to show for it. And it was highly unlikely he could use it again with any credibility. The odd thing was that until the ban had been lifted, House had demanded an almost ridiculous amount of tests on all his clinic patients before he could possibly come up with a diagnosis! After, he went into his speed-diagnosing mode and went through ten patients in half an hour – no tests needed.

Ms Forbes was having her share of difficulties, too. It seemed that Anna had given her chilli-chocolate receipt to every other nurse in the hospital and every piece of chocolate that Janelle snatched brought her out in blotches. It took her till Thursday to figure out that stealing chocolate was not a good idea. In addition to that, she found out that she could not make Anna do her work for her, but she actually had to do it herself. Not that she wasn't capable of doing it - she did have a good education – it just meant that she didn't have time to do anything else at work but work. No long lunches (if they had been lunches) with Sheridan anymore; no leaving early to go shopping (and it had been shopping); no nipping down to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee every half an hour (she had to learn to use the coffee machine – and Anna wasn't telling her how!); none of that: just work. And she was not a happy camper! Had she known that the only reason why Anna didn't share her receipt of chilli-sandwiches, chilli-salad-dressing, chilli-cookies and numerous other chilli-receipts with others was because Janelle actually did the work when she couldn't shift it to someone else instead of just leaving it. So her life could have been worse.

House was somewhat grumpier that week than he had been for a long, long time. But once he got used to seeing Aiko only for lunch during his workday (and once he worked a short session of muscle relaxing exercises into his day with Grey) he got better; not nearly as mellow as when Aiko was around (which made everybody miss the baby even more than they missed her just for herself), but better. Besides, he was able to do a lot of Sheridan-bating at work and now that Rawls had caught on to what was going on, he wasn't quite as easy game as at first, so House was even able to keep things interesting – at least for now. The team was desperately seeking for a new patient before House ran out of amusements because a bored House – with no Aiko to distract him – would be very bad news for them!

On Friday House left work early as he didn't have a patient and even Sheridan-baiting couldn't interest him enough to keep him at work. Not when he had a week-end at home to look forward to. He hadn't even been able to spend much time with Dr Higa, who had been busy with the workshops launching Cuddy's international programme. True, House had been involved with them as well, though not much, but he hadn't skipped his duties there, because he had promised Cuddy and he was still demonstrating both to the board and to Sheridan that Cuddy knew how to deal with him (besides, it was true! She had found out that House felt just enough guilt about having _knocked her up with triplets_ that she could use it to extract a few promises from him).

As soon as House got home he went into the main house to find Aiko, Cuddy and Dr Higa. His mother had come home with him, so she was already accounted for. Kasumii and Grey were in the kitchen, too, with the rest of them. For some reason the kitchen had become the unofficial gathering ground for them all at the end of a day. Quite often House found his team and Wilson in there as well, with the people who actually lived in the house (Grey didn't officially live there, yet, but he might as well – or so House regularly grumbled to him). Having greeted everyone, and especially Aiko, House sat down with Aiko on his lap.

"So Cuddy, how have you really handled your first week out of work?" House asked.

"You make that sound like I was unemployed or something," Cuddy said.

"I would imagine that that is how you see it," House assumed. "After all, someone else is doing your job!"

"And not very well from what I hear," Cuddy huffed. "I'm sure you haven't done more than three of your clinic hours all week and even those you did only to be able to send people to Sheridan to complain about you!"

"Hey! Are you telling me I should obey Sheridan?" House gasped dramatically. "That I should treat him the way I treat you? Because if you do, I have to tell you, he does not have the cleavage and I really couldn't bring myself to sexually harass him. Now if you want me to sexually harass Wilson, I could consider that."

"He doesn't have the cleavage either. Besides, there's enough speculation about you two as it is!" Cuddy exclaimed. "Leave him alone. And I wasn't saying that you should start obeying Sheridan, but if things go the way they are going now, I won't have a hospital to return to."

"It's not that bad," House denied. "Sure, it could **get** that bad, since there is a certain atmosphere of anarchy currently going, but you have your appointment with Dr Jordan next week and you can round up the department heads then and threaten them with fire and brimstone if they take things too far while you're gone. Just tell them in your best Terminator impression that _you'll be back_. You usually scare** me** witless when you do that."

"If only!" Cuddy appealed to higher powers. "But I think I better do what you suggest. As long as they know that they will have to pay for every excess they have committed during my absence, the heads will probably stay reasonably well in line. The only exception to that is probably the head of Diagnostics. He can be a bit of a problem."

"You could try to bribe him," House pointed out. "I hear he is a sucker for sexual favours."

"Mind your manners with Aiko here," Kasumii took a moment away from her talk with Grey to admonish House.

"I covered her ears!" House defended himself (and he actually had done that).

"I'm sure that works well enough now that she is so little that you pretty much always know where she is," Dr Higa deliberated. "But once she's older, you won't always know when she is around. And once there are four of them, you will run out of hands anyway."

"Was that your roundabout way of telling me that you agree with Infant?" House looked like he had bitten into something a little sour.

"You know that a statement once let loose cannot be caught with four horses," Higa pointed out. "If you say something you shouldn't within the hearing of the children, you cannot stop them from hearing it. Better not say it at all."

"You know, had I known how much trouble she would be I would have told you to keep her," House grumbled at Higa.

"Well, your father has suggested several times that you should give her back," Higa stated mildly – opening his arms suggestively.

"Fat chance," House said succinctly earning a wide smile from Higa. "Besides, my mother would disown me if I did that. And Cuddy would fire me, Wilson wouldn't talk to me ever again and my team would totally rebel."

"Does seem like you have to keep her," Higa observed with mock sympathy.

"Yeah, dirty job, but somebody's got to do it," House smiled giving Aiko a kiss on the top of her head. Right then Aiko decided that she really wanted the interesting spoon on the table, but as she couldn't quite reach for it she turned to her Daddy for help.

"Dada!" She demanded getting everybody's attention, not just her Daddy's.

"Yes, Little Love?" House recognised a demand when he heard one. Aiko pointed towards the spoon and House gave it to her. "Was this what you wanted?" Aiko beamed at him and expressed her appreciation by saying "Dada," again. Then she started to bang the table with the spoon making a very satisfying noise.

"That's it?" Cuddy stared at House with utter indignation. "She says her first word and all you do is give her a spoon!"

"Well, she wanted it," was House's bewildered response.

"She called you Dada, and ... aren't you elated, or ... ANYTHING!" Cuddy spluttered.

"She is at an age where she forms random two syllable words, like dada, mama, baba, even byebye," House shrugged. "She has been saying mummum and things like that all the time and nobody's been interpreting them as Mum or anything else. Why go ballistic now?"

"Because she was clearly talking to you," Cuddy pointed out. She also looked around for support. Kasumii nodded emphatically to support her – but was willing to let Cuddy do the talking. Grey backed out of it all; and Dr Higa was just smiling his enigmatic smile refusing to show what he thought about the argument.

"She has been talking to me for weeks," House pointed out. "Just because she now said something that the rest of you think you understand too, makes no difference. Besides, why do you think she meant me with that Dada? She could have meant the spoon or maybe she wanted to say _gimme that_."

Cuddy gave up. She sighed in exasperation: "Why do you always have to do things differently from everybody else? Can't you react just once, I mean just once, like a normal person? Why must you always be so... so ..."

"Unnatural?" House supplied.

"No, I can't really use that word," Cuddy denied. "You look too natural with Aiko in your arms. It's like she has always been there. No, unnatural isn't the word for you. But darn if I know what is."

"Are we going to have a philosophical discussion about words and names and their power in defining man's fate and character?" Higa asked. "Because if we are, we need tea."

"No, I think not," House refused. "Not now, but we can certainly make it the theme for our next tea ceremony. We are due to have one soon anyway."

"But before we have that, there is something I wanted to tell you," Cuddy remembered. "David wanted to take us out tomorrow evening. Be ready by seven."

"Me?" House frowned. "You promised that I would be there, too? Just like that."

"Yes," Cuddy nodded. "Your mother didn't feel like coming, so she is staying with Aiko – and we won't be staying out too long, I'm still pregnant. Your team said yes as did Wilson and Dr Higa agreed to come, too. Besides, I didn't think you would object to free food."

"There is that," House had to admit. "Well, I suppose I'll have to come. I mean somebody has to keep an eye on those two." House nodded towards Kasumii and Grey, who were standing side by side waiting for his answer. "They are getting far too cosy with each other."

"Your own fault," Grey pointed out. "You introduced us and you're the one who brought up the possibility of me moving in at some point."

"At **some** point," House stressed. "You have been practically living in here as long as the rest of us."

"No I haven't," Grey denied. "I only stay overnight during the weekends. Sure I visit often enough during the week, but if you take that as _moving in_, then your team and Dr Wilson have moved in, too."

"And so they have," House was in the mood to complain. "I swear I see them more often here than at work!"

"Stop complaining House," Cuddy admonished him. "You know that it's good for Aiko and you will never make me believe that you really resent anything that is good for her."

Before House could respond and start complaining even more, Aiko decided to run interference. She turned to her Daddy again and offered him the spoon saying "Dada."

"And that is definitely Daddy, and she is so saying her first word," Cuddy concluded the argument standing up and heading for the bathroom – again. "And just for the record, pregnancy sucks and I really hate you House for doing this to me! And don't even try to tell me that it was all my own idea!" The last sentence was thrown at House with a deadly glare so House shut up.


	23. Things happen

_I've been listening Johnny Cash lately, so the tracks for this chapter__- and the next one, too - are Guess Things Happen That Way and It Ain't Me Babe._

_And thank you for your comments again :)_

_--------------------------------_

Before they left home Saturday night, House had a word with his mother. A conversation Blythe really didn't want to have, so she tried to deflect it.

"What is this I hear from Lisa that you don't think Aiko said her first word?" Blythe asked her son.

"She has been saying all sorts of _words_ for some time now, some sound like real words some don't," House shrugged. "I don't see why I should arbitrarily decide that one particular word is **the word** just because it seems to fit the time and the situation. The process of learning is precisely that: a process, it happens gradually and eventually she will speak the same as everybody else."

"So you don't think she has said her first word?" Blythe wondered.

"She has said several," House explained. "Just like I said, some make sense others don't. She is developmentally at a stage where she experiments with two-syllable sounds where the same syllable is repeated. I won't egoistically decide for her which of them have more meaning to her, especially not that Dada means Daddy. I know when she is talking to me, no matter what sounds she uses. Besides I have been having long conversations with her for weeks!"

"You know, I think Lisa is right," Blythe smiled at her son. "You may well be the most unconventional Daddy there is."

"Well, as long as you don't say it like it's a bad thing," House reflected.

"No, it isn't," Blythe stated. "For it does seem to work well for Aiko. She is happy and that is all that really matters."

"I keep telling her that her opinion is all that matters. But don't think that I have forgotten the real reason I sought you out now. I really want to know if you are sure you don't want to come with us?" House asked. "The restaurant would let us bring Aiko with us, too, this early in the evening."

"Really, Greg, I'm fine," Blythe reassured him. "I really look forward to being alone with Aiko this evening. I need some _Aiko-time_. And maybe I can find out if she really is talking or not!"

"If you are not regretting your decision to stay home tonight, then something else has happened," House reflected. "What is dragging you down?"

"There really is no hiding things from you, is there," Blythe sighed. She caressed Greg's cheek briefly. "I'm fine, truly. I just need to get over myself, that's all."

"Not good enough," House refused to let go. "I need a better explanation."

"I got a letter from a busybody neighbour," Blythe finally gave in. "Your father hasn't exactly been broadcasting our divorce, so quite a lot of our old friends are still under the impression that I'm just staying here to help you with Aiko. So this woman wrote to me to warn me that unless I get my priorities straight, I might loose my marriage."

"Meaning?" House asked though he had a pretty good idea.

"Meaning that John has been seen _stepping out,_ as it was phrased, with someone else," Blythe revealed. "May Perkins to be precise."

"I seem to remember her," House frowned. "Major league slut, as one of my patients would put it, I think."

"No she isn't!" Blythe couldn't help but smile, nevertheless. "She just was brought up to believe that women existed for men and that she wouldn't be a real woman without one. It's not her fault that she is needy. She has never been independent in any sense of that word and it really is too late to expect her to change now. And I cannot blame her for going after John, not when I was the one who filed for divorce. And though I do wish John had waited a little longer before... Well, whatever. But I rejected him and I'm sure he is feeling miffed. I just hope this isn't one of those rebound things they talk about. May may be an airhead, a little, but she does not deserve to be hurt."

"I doubt she has the sense needed to be hurt," House derided. "You don't need to worry about either of them. Sounds like Dad landed himself in a tub of butter: a woman who will serve him hand and foot and think he can do no wrong. Must be soothing to his ego."

"Greg," Blythe sighed. "Let it go. It's not worth it."

"But it is hurting you," House pointed out.

"Just my pride," Blythe insisted. "I hadn't realised how easily I can be replaced. But that is all. I'm not hurting in any other way. If it even is hurt, more just melancholy. Things could have been so different, if only... But I will be fine."

"Ok," House agreed to let go. "If you are sure you're fine. Aiko will certainly keep you entertained for the night and she will also certainly lift your spirit. If she can do that to me, then the rest of the world is a peace of cake."

-------------------------------

The dinner party went well. As Cuddy and Cameron had suspected, the reason for the invitation was that Grey and Kasumii had gotten engaged. House wasn't thrilled and refused to congratulate them until they assured him that they were not getting married any time soon and nothing was going to change for Aiko.

"Fine, if that is the case, then ok, you can get engaged," House grudgingly gave his permission.

"I wasn't exactly asking for your permission, you know," Grey felt compelled to point out. "I already did that with her Mother, you have no say in this!"

"You think?" House raised an eyebrow at him. "You try to steal my Nanny and you think I don't have any say?"

"I'm not your property," Kasumii huffed at House. "And he is not stealing me. We just wanted to exchange rings to show people that we are together."

"And not available to others, I presume," House noted perceptively.

"That's a side effect," Grey admitted. "But mainly we did this for ourselves."

"That's a good thing," Chase observed. "As I know a few people who see a ring as a challenge not a sign of commitment to someone else."

"I certainly could name one or two," Cameron agreed.

"Please, no," Wilson raised his hands. "We are not bringing those two into this dinner table. I'm not ruining my weekend with Sheridan and Janelle. Leave them at work."

"Hear, hear," Cuddy agreed.

"Works for me," House approved. "Besides, they are pretty much taken care of once Cuddy mobs the floor next week."

"You mean my talk with the department heads?" Cuddy queried. "It cannot be as easy as that?"

"Yes it can," House stated. "Sherry Darling has lost the hospital already. You just need to make sure he doesn't ruin it."

"Weren't we supposed to change the subject?" Foreman wanted to know, though he did agree with House; Sheridan J. Rawls had lost so much ground the first week that there was no way he could regain it in six months.

"Yes we were," Cuddy nodded. "So no wedding bells any time soon. Any other plans? Like do you need time off to visit David's family?"

"No they don't," House reacted immediately, but was ignored.

"Not right now," Kasumii said.

"We do have plans, but my family is rather scattered and they travel a lot," Grey explained. "It's even possible that in the end they will come here; or at least my parents will. We'll see. We are in no hurry."

"Make sure you won't be either," House inserted. "In fact..."

"DON'T," Cuddy put her hand on House's mouth. "You will not say anything about contraception. If, and only if, they want a doctor's opinion on that they can talk to me, or Cameron, or Wilson, or Chase, or Foreman or Dr Jordan or someone else entirely. You stay out of it."

"Spoilsport," House groused. However he did read the glint in Cuddy's eyes correctly and decided to shut up.

Later he did get a sort of dig in, though, as the restaurant had live music and before they had started the dinner he had tipped the waiter to take a request to the singer who, as soon as coffee was served to their table, started a song that made Kasumii give House a glare. Grey just smiled ruefully and mouthed "Touché" to House.

_Look at me,/ I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree / And I feel like I'm clinging to a cloud / I can't understand/ I get misty just holding your hand / Walk my way/ And a thousand violins begin to play / Or it might be the sound of your hello / That music I hear/ I get misty the moment you're near / You can say that you're leading me on / But it's just what I want you to do / Don't you notice how hopelessly I'm lost / That's why I'm following you / On my own/ Would I wander through this wonderland alone / Never knowing my right foot from my left / My hat from my glove / I'm too misty, and too much in love_

Cuddy watched the exchange between House and the young couple in puzzlement: "What did you do now?"

"Nothing," House insisted. "I just thought this song might be appropriate since Kasumii means Misty." Cuddy rolled her eyes, but let it go. House had been grumpy, but even so, almost sociable all evening, so he deserved some slack.

After the coffee Cuddy decided it was time for her to get home as the triplets were getting restless. Dr Higa said that he was ready to leave, too so House got up from the table with them leaving the _youngsters_ to finish the evening on their own. Wilson was quite happy to be classified as one of them, but unfortunately his pager went off and he had to leave for the hospital.

In the lobby, however, House made clear that he was not going to come home with Cuddy and Dr Higa. He wanted to go to the bar alone for a while yet.

"No, Cuddy," House said before Cuddy could even open her mouth. "I'm not going to drink. I want to indulge in other vices, not drinking – at least not my own."

"You think you can walk into a bar and pick up a woman, just like that?" Cuddy wasn't sure House really meant to do that – and she wasn't sure why she felt somewhat deflated at the idea. They didn't really live together; they had made no promises to each other (apart from being co-parents) and the only agreement they had about sex was that they could have it and that no casual dates were brought into the house.

"Hey, you're the one who told me that all a man needs is a condom and a credit card and he can get anything he wants!" House exclaimed.

"That was in Singapore," Cuddy scorned.

"Cuddy, you know, one of the most endearing things about you has always been your innocence," House stated almost seriously. "Don't wait up for me."

"Greg?" Dr Higa had observed the conversation with a tiny frown on his face. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Casual sex is never a _good_ idea," House shrugged. "But I don't think it's a bad idea either. I've been a good boy for a long time now, I need some distraction, some _sinning_ by now."

"And are you ok with this, Dr Cuddy?" Higa asked Lisa.

"Can't say I'm ok as such," Cuddy shrugged in turn. "But it's his business. As a friend, I hope he will be careful and I sure would be happier if he came home with us, but that's it."

"I am still somewhat confused about this arrangement between you two, but if this is ok with you, then I surely have no place to say anything," Higa shook his head a little mystified. "Only, do be careful Greg. For all our sakes."

"I'm always careful," House reassured him. "And now that I have real responsibilities, I'll be doubly careful. I promise."

Higa and Cuddy watched House walk to the bar and then Higa turned to Cuddy giving her a strangely sympathetic look: "This disturbs you more than you want him to know, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Cuddy admitted ruefully. "But I cannot hold him to promises he hasn't made. We did talk about this, sort of, and he is free to do as he chooses. As long as the children aren't affected."

"Sometimes we don't know what affects what until it's too late," Higa sighed and escorted Cuddy out.

-------------------------------

House limped to the bar and sat down. He ordered tomato juice, though he wasn't particularly fond of it, but he could at least pretend it was a Bloody Mary and not feel so conspicuous. He looked around the bar and saw at the other end of the long counter a woman sitting alone. She was beautiful in an understated way, in her thirties, dressed up to the nines – obviously to please some lucky man – and she was staring at her wine morosely. The _lucky guy_ had obviously been a no show. To House's mind she might as well have held up a _come hither_ sign for sexual predators with her lonely vulnerability.

"How long has she been here?" House asked the bartender.

"About an hour," he responded. "She is in her third glass of wine."

"Ah, obviously someone who is not used to hard drinking but wants to get drunk," House concluded. "Only she doesn't really know how."

"You can get drunk on wine, too," The bartender – his nametag identified him as Bo – pointed out.

"True, but when you want to get drunk from wine, you don't order it one glass at a time," House observed. "She is so going to get herself in trouble."

"I know," Bo agreed. "But she didn't want to listen to me when I tried."

"Damn it!" House took his drink and got ready to move next to the woman. "I was so looking forward to getting laid tonight! Well, can't be helped now. Take my advice, Bo, don't ever have daughters. They change your thinking and you find yourself acting totally against your nature."

"Too late, sir," Bo told him. "I already have three of them."

"Don't we all," House sighed. "Don't we all."


	24. Best, and not so best, intentions

_Thank you for your opinions again, I appreciate them. And Mikesh – what sharp eyes you have :). I hope y'all don't get too angry with me when some best intentions go the way they normally do...__ Just remember, the course of true love never did run smoothly ... well, with House nothing ever runs smoothly._

_----------------------_

House walked over to the lonely woman at the other end of the bar. He considered his options and decided to go for shock tactics – partly because it rather was his natural mode of operations anyway.

"Voulez-vouz coucher avec moi ce soir?" House asked as he parked himself on the stool next to her.

She blinked at him in surprise, then she seemed to check him out and then he surprised House by responding: "Sure, your place or mine?"

House didn't let his surprise throw him: "It has to be your place. My daughter's grandfather is currently staying with me at my place," House explained earnestly. "Besides, I promised the woman who is expecting my children that I would not bring any of my casual dates home."

She blinked some more processing House's explanation, and then House saw how fumes were starting to come out of her ears: "You are married!"

"No, not married, not living together with anyone – the said grandfather is just visiting, not in any marriage-like relationship with anyone currently," House denied.

"But you have made your girlfriend pregnant," She pointed out.

"Well, she is a girl, or actually she is a woman but that's beside the point here, she is a friend and she is pregnant and I'm the biological father, so I suppose I have to say yes to that," House mused. "But having children with someone is surely no reason not to have sex with someone else, is it? After all, you have children too."

"How..." She was surprised out of her indignation at House's marital – or whatever it was – status.

"I've seen the picture of you and your two kids on your husband's desk," House decided to stop playing games.

"Prominently displayed no doubt," Ruth Rawls responded with some bitterness. "Nice to know we are prominent at least somewhere in his life." She looked House over with more attention. "Aren't you supposed to have flames on your cane?"

"I do, on my everyday cane," House nodded. "But I was having dinner with friends and my mother thought I ought to have something less bitching than flames so I opted for this one. It's an antique vintner's cane."

"Beautiful," Ruth observed. "Now do we need to introduce each other more formally, Dr House, or ...?"

"I hate formal introductions," House told her. "I know who you are and you know who I am."

"Yes, I do indeed know who you are: the bane of my husband's existence," Ruth clarified. "You have no idea how happy I am to meet you."

"No, I can't say that I have," House raised his eyebrows at her. "This looks like Sherry Darling has seriously let you down."

"He has," Ruth twirled her empty wine glass contemplating it. "We were supposed to have a mini-honeymoon this weekend. The kids are with my parents and we were supposed to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary."

"So what happened?" House asked cautiously.

"He cancelled," Ruth stated. "He said he had to work today and possibly even tomorrow that there was some deadline or another at something at the hospital; obviously I wasn't listening too well at the time. However, once I calmed down I thought he has to eat, he has to sleep, so why don't I get us a room and a dinner somewhere close to the hospital and we can still have some kind of celebration."

"You planned this as a surprise?" House asked seeing where the story was going.

"You got it," Ruth smiled bitterly. "And a surprise it was; only I was the one who was surprised when I went to his office to get him. They didn't see me; I was too shocked to even make a sound so I just backed out quietly and walked back here. And here I've been since then trying to make up my mind if I want to get drunk or what."

"Well, considering how easily you agreed to my suggestion it seems you have opted for that _what_," House observed dryly.

"My husband is celebrating our wedding anniversary by having sex," Ruth stated ruthlessly. "In any kind of just world if my husband has sex so have I."

"There is that," House admitted. "And as such I'm not against extra-marital relationships. I've never been married but being faithful even in a less formal relationship has never been my long suit. But if you want to have sex with a total stranger you need to be aware of the possible consequences. STDs, HIV, possible pregnancy, possible rape. Getting drunk and saying yes to a suggestion from a man you have never met before is not the smart way to go about it."

"I do have condoms with me," Ruth tried to defend herself though somewhat lamely.

"When you are drunk and alone in a room with a man you don't know, you really aren't in a position to call the shots," House pointed out.

"Did you ask me that question to try to shock me into going home?" Ruth challenged House.

"Not really. I didn't think you would say yes, but I wanted to know how much trouble you were looking for," House pondered. "Obviously more than I had expected. Mind you, there was a small chance that you would say yes, and I have always wanted to ask that question from a woman and have her say yes without me needing to flash my credit card first."

"Well, my husband was right about one thing: you can be pretty disgusting," but Ruth smiled when she said it.

"I do try," House smiled in return. "But how disgusting I can be is of no consequence right now. Why don't you let me escort you home? I know you are angry and shocked at your husband, but getting back at him this way is not the smart thing to do."

"I'm staying here for the night," Ruth asserted. "I paid for the room I might as well use it. Besides, I don't want to sleep in his bed tonight."

"Ok, so why don't I see you safely to your room then," House suggested.

"Tell me, what is this situation you have with your girlfriend?" Ruth wanted to know.

"Ok, you're not ready to go yet. Well, I suppose I can tell you," House sighed. "Dr Cuddy is a friend, when she realised that her time to have a child was running out and she hadn't found a _Mr Right_ I agreed to help her with her project. I had just adopted my daughter so I thought she could in return help me with all the girl stuff once Aiko gets to that age. However, once we found out that she was expecting triplets we agreed to co-parent all the kids. We live in the same house, but I have a separate flat in it. We are not married, nor are living together but we are friends and we are parents. It's like an amicable divorce without the marriage."

"So you really are free to go out and pick up women?" Ruth asked. "It's not just something you think is a man's prerogative? To be unfaithful."

"Yes, I'm free. And I don't think screwing around is a man's prerogative," House shrugged. "I just think that if you do it, you should go about it responsibly. I hate treating idiots who don't have enough brains to use a condom."

"And you always use a condom?" Ruth was curious.

"My specialty is infectious diseases. Yes, I always use a condom," House responded.

"So, ok, why don't you escort me to my room, and stay," Ruth invited.

"That would not be a smart idea," House shook his head. "You need a better reason for a one-night stand than getting back at your husband, for which I certainly am an ideal candidate."

"I have always done what I was told; what was expected of me," Ruth explained. "I married my high-school boyfriend at the age of eighteen, I had two kids, I'm a stay-at-home mother, and I've done everything by _the book_ my mother _handed_ me, so to speak. Just for once, I want to regret something that is all my own doing, my own decision, my own stupidity. I'm having sex tonight. If you don't want me, that's ok. I mean, I don't even know why you came in here: because you were looking for company or because you saw me here and decided to rescue me. But I'm not your responsibility, I'm a grown woman and I may be emotional right now, but I'm not stupid. I'm not even drunk, thanks to your intervention. And I do thank you for that."

"You are angry," House stated.

"Damn right I am," Ruth laughed bitterly. "And it has to go somewhere. This is what I choose to do with it. It's my wedding anniversary. He is celebrating it by having sex with his secretary, but I'll be damned if I let him decide that I can't have sex even when he is. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I will regret this, but that's what I choose to do. You can either take advantage of it and get one-up on Sheridan, or you can let someone else do the honours."

"Well, I did come to this bar to find someone to have a one-night-stand with," House on deliberated. "And I will certainly make sure you won't have any of the possible physical consequences. But have you thought what this might mean to you emotionally? Or possibly socially? You could be ruining your reputation."

"Are you telling me that you would tell people about this?" Ruth asked. "That I might find myself the object of hospital gossip tomorrow?"

"For all you know me, yes," House warned.

"I'll live," Ruth decided. "Besides, it might be a nice change for the gossips, to be able to talk about me instead of my husband."

"Well, they won't hear it from me," House admitted. "Mind you, something like this is bound to come out anyway. Somebody will surely see us or something else will happen to bring this to light. I won't be around to help you in any way when that happens, you need to understand that. I already have more responsibility than I'm quite comfortable with. I'm not taking on anyone else."

"I was rather under the impression that one-night-stand specifically meant that there was no _later_ or _after_ or even _see you_," Ruth pointed out.

"Ok then, if you are sure," House said standing up and helping Ruth from her seat. "Just remember that I need to be home in time to have breakfast with my daughter."

---------------------------------

When House got home on the early hours of the morning he met Dr Higa in the living room.

"_Surely you haven't been waiting for me?"_ House asked the older man in Japanese.

"_No, but I'm an old man. I sleep like a baby,"_ Dr Higa explained.

"_Ah, you sleep four hours and then wake up crying?"_ House smiled.

"_Well, not crying, but yes, I don't sleep all through the night anymore,"_ Higa smiled back. "_You just timed your arrival right. So did you get what you wanted?_"

"_I'm not sure what you mean?"_ House thought he had heard something in the question that was not obvious.

"_You were looking for escape from your responsibilities, weren't you?"_ Higa asked. "_Temporary, granted, but still escape. Did it work? Are you any less scared now?_"

"_Not really_," House had to admit. "_But it was good. Only given what happened, I may have created more problems for myself_."

"_So what did happen?"_ Higa got a little worried.

"_Do you need to go back to bed?"_ House enquired.

"_No, I was going to read and possibly make some tea for myself, why?"_ Higa wanted to know.

"_I need a shower and I want out of these clothes_," House said. "_Let's talk over tea. I think I need to talk to someone about this and you will definitely be discreet_."

"_You want tea?"_ Higa wondered.

"_You know I hate tea,"_ House shrugged. "_But there is something about drinking tea that just helps you talk about things. Especially when they are things that don't really have answers but you still need to find one._"

"_It's a philosophical drink_," Higa nodded. "_And sometimes no answer is the right answer to have_."

"_Yeah, so you keep telling me,"_ House sighed. "_But you know that is another thing I hate: not having answers_."

"_I know, I know,"_ Higa sighed, he knew, only too well.


	25. Morning after

_Thank you for your opinions, and sorry that House wanted to behave like a jerk – as I've said before, sometimes there is no controlling him! Anyway, this is the last update I can do before I'm going away from my computer for couple of weeks. I hope to be able to update on the 15__th__ or thereabouts again. _

_And the conversation between House and Higa is conducted in Japanese though I'm not using cursive to indicate it this time – just too lazy, sorry ;)_

--------------------------

House was staring at his tea. He had just finished telling Dr Higa what had happened at the bar and what he had done. There was a silence, but he didn't feel like Akira was condemning him, just thinking.

"I should have brought her here," House said to break the silence, though it wasn't truly uncomfortable. "I should have lied and brought her here, but I didn't read her right at first."

"And once you had told her that I was here, she would not have come," Higa nodded. "I too wish you had found a way to talk her out of it, but I wasn't there so I don't know if you even could have. I wish you hadn't gone to the bar at all, I wish a lot of things, but what is done is done. Now we have to deal with the aftermath. You need to tell Lisa what happened."

"She has nothing to do with this," House frowned. "This is my foul up."

"True, but as you pointed out there really is no way to keep this hidden, it will come out one way or another," Higa stated. "And once it does, someone will drag her into this."

"They shouldn't," House insisted. "She is not responsible for me; she wouldn't be even if she wasn't on maternity leave. Ruth is not a patient, or in any way part of the hospital. She is just married to Sheridan."

"There are lots of things that shouldn't happen, but they do. And Lisa is pregnant with your children," Higa reminded House. "Someone will drag her into this regardless of how little it truly has to do with her."

"I suppose you're right," House sighed with feeling. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation. "She deserves to find out about it from me and not some distorted gossip."

"So what are you going to do about Ruth?" Higa asked.

"Nothing I can do now," House shrugged regretfully. "I made sure she will have no physical or medical consequences but there is nothing I can do about the emotional fall out. Either of her discovery of Sheridan's affair or her own regrets about last night. She won't want to see me again, I'm sure, and even if she did, I can't really approach her since we aren't supposed to have ever met. If I suddenly start showing interest in Sheridan's wife, suspicions are bound to rise."

"Do you have any idea what she is going to do now?" Higa asked.

"She was awake when I left," House revealed. "We didn't say much to each other, but she did promise that she wasn't going to do anything else stupid. I got the impression that she intended to go to her parents and stay there with her children for the rest of the week-end at least. She didn't seem to hate me, but as I said, she probably won't want to see me ever again. All in all I don't see what else I can do but lie low – and warn Lisa of the possible fall out... Damn!"

"She won't be happy," Higa warned.

"That must be the understatement of the century!" House observed. "The only consolation in this is that Aiko is still a baby and the Trips are not born yet. I can at least keep them out of this mess. That was the last time I went into a bar to find a one-night-stand. From now on it's hookers all the way!"

"Hmm, you might not want to do that either," Higa deliberated. "You will have three daughters. You won't want them to get the idea that there is anything good about the porn industry. You know that all the people involved in it are damaged in some way; it just isn't a healthy business."

House looked at Higa for a moment with consideration: "You knew exactly what you were doing when you gave Aiko to me, didn't you?" He finally accused.

"I had no way of knowing that you would end up having triplets with Lisa, so I cannot say that I knew exactly what I was doing," Higa denied. House's only response was a raised eyebrow so Higa went on. "But you are right; I knew she would cause major changes in your life. Changes that in the long run would be good no matter how reluctant you might at first be to make them."

"What if I cannot make the changes," House warned. "After all, I screwed up royally last night."

"You did," Higa agreed. "However I'd like to know why you did it? I know your reason for seeking sex: you were tired of being responsible, you were scared, you wanted to feel like your old self even if only for a moment – and even though you're not really sure you want to be your old self. That I got already. But why did you go with Ruth when you initially had intended to just see her safely home?"

"I don't know," House admitted. "I knew from the start that it wasn't a good idea, but I still felt it was a better idea than to leave her in the bar for god knows who! I initially misjudged the situation as I didn't realise that she had actually caught Sheridan and Janelle together. I thought that Sheridan had just stood her up and once I had tipped my hand I couldn't either bring her here or get her drunk and see her to her room with no other regret to look forward to than a hangover. I just screwed up and having done that I muddled through the best I could. Which, in this case, wasn't very good at all."

"So you cared and lost your objectivity," Higa summed up. "And you erred and in the end you behaved like a normal human being. It happens."

"You don't sound very judgmental," House was confused.

"I think you made a mistake, absolutely," Higa said. "But no matter how regrettable your actions were, you still have much less reason to hate yourself than you would have, had you left her in the bar and next seen her in the ER beaten, raped, pregnant and HIV positive. True, that is not the likeliest thing to have happened, but as a doctor you know that it could have happened. You have seen it before."

"Just because I might have saved her from _a fate worse than death_," House commented. "Is not enough to merit absolution."

"True, but it does make this a misdemeanour instead of a felony," Higa noted. "You made a mistake; you will have to face the consequences – of which the telling the story to Lisa isn't the smallest one – and then you go on from there. Nothing has happened that would make me think I made a mistake when I gave Aiko to you. I don't approve of your actions, but I accept them and you have my support."

"Thank you," House replied quietly, not quite knowing how to react to such calm, fatherly support. He had never had it from his real father. But it did feel good.

------------------------------------

Later that morning, after having had breakfast with Aiko and having slept a few hours, House took Cuddy aside to talk to her. They were expecting the rest of House-hold to convene at the house again later in the afternoon and House wanted to get the shouting over and done with before that. He told Cuddy simply the facts of what had happened without any excuses. Cuddy listened to him in silence, just staring at him in shock. Once he was done, she just walked away from him into the kitchen where Higa and Blythe (who had heard the story from Higa) were waiting to find out how Cuddy would react.

"You know what he did last night?" Cuddy asked them still in shock.

"Yes, he told me as he came home this morning," Higa admitted. "I don't exactly approve, but as a doctor I know what could have happened to her had he left her in the bar. And you know it too."

"That doesn't make what he did right," Cuddy insisted.

"No, absolutely it doesn't," Blythe agreed. "However, it is an explanation. And all in all, I can't see how what happened is any worse than what he originally intended to do – which, I wouldn't have approved of at all, either."

"Ok. Fine. Fine," Cuddy muttered and walked back to House who was standing outside on the backyard patio. She stared at him in silence for a moment trying to find words. "I don't like this. I have a real problem with what you did, but then I didn't like your original plan either. I ... You ... I can understand what Mrs Rawls was going through and how she felt having walked in on her husband and Janelle. I can sort of imagine what the situation was. I still don't like what you did. Heck, I don't approve what SHE did, either! Surely she ought to have held herself up to a higher standard than her husband – who is a total lowlife! I know there are plenty of things you do on regular basis that I don't approve of, but I live with them, because in the end you usually manage to make things right. I just don't know how anyone can make this right. And I don't like the idea that I might somehow be dragged into this and I think next time you want to have sex, you need to think again! Something like this is not good for the children."

"I know," House accepted her displeasure. "I've come to that conclusion myself already. But I cannot undo what I have already done. Hopefully there won't be any drastic consequences from this, but I needed to warn you. Akira was of the opinion that if this does come out, somebody will try to drag you into it as well."

"Probably," Cuddy sighed. "Well, at least I know what to expect now. I still don't like it, but what is done is done."

"I'm really sorry that you might get dragged into this," House imparted. "I haven't quite got the hang of this responsibility thing. I'm so used to judging the consequences of my actions to myself only, now that I need to see further than that, I make mistakes that I ought to have been able to avoid. I really didn't mean to complicate your life."

"That's what you said when you knocked me up with the triplets, too," Cuddy groused. "But here we are anyway, in a very complicated situation. I need to digest this, I need time. So just give me some space, ok."

"Whatever you need," House agreed. "Remember, that's why we have a house this big."

"Yeah, so that we wouldn't end up murdering each other," Cuddy gave him a small, rueful smile.

"Cuddy," House called as she turned to go. "Will we be ok, as friends, once you've done your thinking?"

"Your mother pointed out that what you did, was no worse than what you intended to do," Cuddy revealed. "I didn't like your original plan either, but if I wasn't going to let that harm our friendship, I really cannot let this harm it either. Yeah, we will be ok. I just need to process this. Mind you, that does not mean that once the shock wears off, I won't still give you one humdinger of a lecture – especially if somebody really will drag me into this."

"That's ok," House accepted. "I rather like it when you shout at me. There is certain kind of comfort in the familiarity of it."

"You really are just impossible," Cuddy rolled his eyes at him and walked back into the kitchen.

"So?" Blythe asked her as soon as Cuddy got back.

"I already told Akira yesterday that I cannot hold Greg to promises he hasn't made," Cuddy contemplated. "And given the situation, I cannot really blame him for having been with a married woman either. But I still don't like what he did and I need to think it through. But once I've done that, we will still be friends. We need to be for the children. But we also need to redefine some of the rules! I'm not going through this again."

"Hear, hear," Blythe concurred.

"I think you might find him surprisingly ready to have that particular conversation," Higa smiled.


	26. Vera Wang

_Ok, I'm back and I'll try to get at least a couple of updates in before the next "hiatus" due to the coming out of the last Harry Potter novel. :)_

--------------------------

The House-hold was almost completely present early Sunday afternoon; the only one missing was Wilson, who had called to tell them to start without him as his patient needed him a little longer still. It didn't take House long to sense some kind of an atmosphere from his team. Cameron was avoiding him, and when she couldn't her friendliness was somewhat forced. She was also giving overly concerned looks to Cuddy. The boys were just a little awkward, like they didn't quite know how to behave: they gave him sort of "guy" looks when Cameron wasn't around and when she was they tried hard to frown and look sombre. House put up with it for half an hour and then he cornered his boys.

"Out with it," House demanded simply.

"With what?" Chase tried to stall and Foreman, too, did his best to look innocent and clueless. (The latter feat wasn't that difficult for him in House's opinion).

"Don't even try that," House warned. "You know perfectly well what I'm talking about and you really should remember that I can make your lives truly miserable."

"And what exactly would be new in that?" Chase muttered.

"New?" House gave them an evil smile. "In addition to my usual repertoire of tortures I would also make it impossible for you to see Aiko."

Both men turned pale and this time it was Foreman who beat Chase to the telling.

"Cameron saw you go into a hotel room with some woman," Foreman couldn't get the words out fast enough. "We were just wondering how you managed it. You left with Cuddy and Dr Higa, and then, not that much later you have already escaped them and picked up a real stunner – or so we understood from Cameron. She was really struggling between rage at you and envy at her; apparently she was wearing something really amazing."

"Yeah, Cameron was both trying to describe something she called _a nude Vera Wang_ to Miss Tanaka – and none of it made any sense to me," Chase explained. "And at the same time express her outrage and try to convince us to I don't know, do something to show our disapproval to you."

"And what was her opinion of the woman inside that dress?" House asked neutrally.

"She didn't get a good look at her," Foreman said. "She only got a glimpse at first and by the time she realised it was you with her, all she could see was the back of you both."

"Besides, she was torn about that, too," Chase acknowledged. "As she didn't know what you had told her or anything about her, she found it hard to know whether to pity her or label her as a man-eater."

"Ok, so she saw what happened last night," House nodded. "Now why isn't she yelling at me? That is what she usually does."

"She doesn't want to hurt Cuddy," Foreman shrugged.

"She made us swear we wouldn't say anything," Chase agreed. "But I'm fairly sure she is composing a lengthy tirade in her mind for Monday."

"Well, first of all none of it is any of her business," House stated. "And secondly, though I'm all for you three not talking about it, Cuddy knows already. I told her this morning."

Both Chase and Foreman blinked and then stared at House amazed. They didn't know what to think, they looked at Cuddy, who was talking with Blythe at the other end of the yard. She looked just fine, a little less radiant than normally, but she was also rubbing her back, so the Trips could be the reason for that. They looked at each other, trying to assess each other's reaction to this announcement, but didn't learn anything. Chase's lip twisted a little, like he wanted to leer a little and ask House how he had managed it and how he had conned Cuddy into accepting it. But the leer died, because this was Cuddy and he did respect her and though House had always managed to talk her into accepting most of his ideas – and some of them had been truly insane like that autopsy he had performed on the living girl, or giving magic mushrooms to a teenager – this was something else. This felt somehow dishonourable, even slightly slimy. And for all House's outrageous and unacceptable behaviour (including his relations with _professional girls_) Chase had never associated _slimy_ with him.

Foreman was having a similar problem. He felt like he ought to punch House lightly on the arm and say _you dog! - _but something about House's demeanour forbid such action. He didn't know what Cuddy and House were to each other. He didn't quite buy the official version where Cuddy had merely asked House for _a sample_ and got pregnant that way and then, when she ended up with triplets, they had decided to just co-parent the kids. Sure, they were friends, but _just friends_? with someone as hot as Cuddy – no way! Or then House really was gay as some at the hospital suspected. And Foreman didn't quite believe that. From what he had seen of John House, he had the impression that nothing would have pleased House more than being able to – truthfully – announce to his Dad that he was gay! If House hadn't already come out of the closet, he wasn't in one. So, why, if he had someone like Lisa Cuddy waiting for him at home, was he going fishing elsewhere? Eric actually opened his mouth to ask that question, but House silenced him with a frown. It seemed the man really was a mind reader.

"What the relationship between me and Cuddy is is none of your business," House warned them. "We are still working on getting this living arrangement to work, we are still feeling our way to being parents. The last thing we need is busybodies sticking their noses into our business. So you two, stay out of it – or suffer the consequences – and tell Cameron to save it." With that House left the stunned duo standing and limped his way to Cuddy.

Cuddy had been slightly avoiding House all morning – not going out of her way to avoid him, but trying to time things so that she didn't have to deal with him too often. Blythe was happy to help her, as she understood Lisa's need for some breathing space. It was apparently something House understood, too, as he had helped along with the _avoiding_. He had also made sure that Lisa had time alone with Aiko, so that avoiding House didn't interfere with their relationship. (Privately Blythe thought her son was actually being quite sneaky making sure that Lisa would remember what was at stake here: if House went, so did Aiko.) So when House came over to them, both Lisa and Blythe were sure he had a reason.

"They know," House sighed. "Some of it that is. Cameron saw us, but fortunately only from the behind."

"And she told everybody," Cuddy said in disgust. "But why didn't Kasumii say anything?"

"She is Japanese," House shrugged. "And Grey is English. For both the first reaction would be to stay out of it or wait a little longer to see how the land lies. Besides, they both live here – or as good as in Grey's case – so they have a better idea of our deal."

"Good for them," Cuddy huffed. "Because it seems they know more about it than I do."

"I'm sorry Cuddy," House grimaced. "I didn't mean to cause you any trouble. But we cannot talk about it now. I just thought you ought to know. But you are right, there are still many things about this being parents together that we need to sort out. And apparently we need to reconsider that sex-deal, too."

"Yes, we will," Cuddy confirmed with conviction.

"Oh, and have a word with Grey about your back," House threw over his shoulder as he left the ladies. "He might be able to do something about the ache."

"Have I ever told you that your son is impossible!" Cuddy sulked.

"Frequently," Blythe responded putting a sympathetic hand on Lisa's shoulder.

---------------------

Chase and Foreman had shut up as instructed but they hadn't told Cameron about their conversation with House, as she had already decided not to talk about it. They could tell her later to save the lecture she was going to give House. The atmosphere was not quite as easy as it usually was, but as everybody concentrated either on Aiko or Cuddy and the Trips, it wasn't too bad. At least Wilson failed to see anything wrong as he joined the others about an hour and a half later.

"Oh, I heard in the hospital that Sheridan and Janelle got busted yesterday," Wilson suddenly remembered once he had satisfied the worst of his hunger with Blythe's cooking – others had just finished eating, but Blythe had made sure there would be enough left over for Jimmy, too. "Though it's possible that they don't know it yet."

"What happened," Foreman wanted to know.

"Infant," House sensed that things were about to go south, so he decided to do what damage control he could. No matter what was going to be said he didn't want Aiko distressed. "I think it's time for Aiko's nap." Kasumii came over to take Aiko, who was reluctant to leave her Daddy – whether it was because she just wanted to be with him, or because she sensed something House wasn't sure, but fortunately she agreed to go without too much of a fuss. Once Aiko was gone, Wilson – who assumed that House just wanted to protect Aiko from too adult subjects, as the ladies of the house kept telling him to do – went on with his story.

"His wife decided to surprise him," Wilson shrugged. "He had obviously told her that he was working late or something. Anyway, she came over and the nurses saw her go into the office. She came back almost immediately, white as a sheet and she just walked out in shock. One of the nurses actually tried to talk to her, to ask if she was ok, but she didn't hear."

"She must have seen them!" Cameron cried. "How awful. Does anyone know what happened to her? They didn't let her drive in that condition?"

"No," Wilson shook his head. "She must have come in a taxi as the nurse who followed her saw her just walk away. They couldn't follow her any further as they had their hands full in the hospital at that time."

"But she didn't walk in and confront those two?" Chase wanted to know.

"Seemingly not," Wilson nodded. "There was no time and when Sheridan and Janelle came out later, they gave no sign that they knew anything had happened. Of course, you can never tell with those two. It's possible that they don't care one way or the other."

"I wonder what made her go there yesterday?" Foreman mused. "She has never come to the hospital before. The only reason we know what she looks like at all is that picture Sheridan has of her on his desk. Why now?"

"Apparently she thought they had something to celebrate," Wilson informed them. "She was dressed up to the nines according to the nurses. Those who had seen her were raving about a creamy beige Vera Wang cocktail dress and Jimmy Choo shoes."

Three heads snapped towards House and three pairs of eyes stared at him. Grey did turn to look at him, too, but more slowly and his gaze was more questioning than stunned, - or accusing as Cameron's was. Cameron marched over to House and let go with her hand: "You lecherous pig!"

However, the hand was stopped before it connected with House's cheek. Cuddy had moved with surprising speed and she seized Cameron's hand: "NOT your prerogative," she announced.

"But you have no idea what he has done!" Cameron insisted. Foreman and Chase were wondering, too, how much House actually had told Cuddy.

"What is going on?" Wilson was staring at everybody totally bewildered; having been called to a patient the night before he hadn't been around for Cameron's report. He wondered how Sheridan getting caught could make Cameron attack House? Unless... "You didn't tell Sheridan's wife to go to his office, did you House?"

"No," House denied. "I had nothing to do with that. The man was just an idiot to think that his wife was going to meekly stay home on the night of their tenth wedding anniversary while he was _working late._"

"Have to say that is an unreasonable ... Hang on!" Wilson suddenly realised what House had said. "How do you know it was their tenth wedding anniversary?"

"She told him," Cuddy dropped on them. The ducklings stared at her, but Grey just nodded like he had expected something like this from his observations of the day.

"I met her in the bar after the incident," House clarified for Wilson, who still looked confused.

"Oh, ..oh... Ok," Wilson nodded. "She must have been glad to have someone to talk to."

"He did more than talking," Cameron snapped disgusted.

"Shut up Cameron," House told her curtly.

"What more ... You didn't!" Wilson made the necessary connections and stared at House in shock. "She is Sheridan's wife!"

"That might have been the attraction," Foreman suggested.

"Right," suddenly House turned to his team – and Wilson, too and told them firmly: "Listen carefully I will only say this once: what happened last night had nothing to do with Sheridan, his part in this is just an unfortunate coincidence. Ruth Rawls has been through enough already. You will not talk about this in the hospital not even amongst yourselves. If anyone else has seen something and comes to you for information you know nothing. This is not your business. The people who need to know what happened do. End of discussion."

"But..." Cameron tried to express some of her indignation – both at being told to shut up and at House's actions the night before.

"House said to shut up," Cuddy supported him. "I, personally, don't want to have a public post mortem on this subject."

"But you cannot be ok with him having had sex with Sheridan's wife," Wilson gasped.

"No, of course I'm not," Cuddy said. "How could I be? But it's not that Ruth is Sheridan's wife that is the point here. She made a bad decision last night, but she is a grown woman, and given the situation I can see how it could have happened. Anger is never a good counsellor. But that was her call; House didn't even seduce her let alone coerce her into anything she didn't want. But even before he went into the bar he told me why he was going there." At this point Cameron gasped. "But as a friend I couldn't stop him, though I did advise him against it. He, too, is an adult. I may not like his decisions and actions, but I really cannot do anything about it. We are working together to parent our children, but that's it."

"But something like this cannot be good for the children," Chase pointed out frowning. "I mean, what kind of moral compass are you giving them? And how are they going to learn about having a good marriage and raising a happy family and things like that?"

"From television," House inserted dryly. "Just like we did." Chase acknowledged the hit with a shrug.

"No they won't," Cuddy insisted. "We are still muddling through, but this happened early enough, we will work something out. But apparently we need to talk more than we originally thought – about other things than children, too."

"Yeah, but that is our business, not theirs," House pointed out.

"Yeah, I definitely remember how I hated when other people put their noses into my marriages," Wilson sighed remembering. Then he suddenly realised what he had said when both Cuddy and House gave him a glare: "Not that you're married in any sense, but I imagine it would be the same if I had children and somebody started to give me unsolicited advice about child raising... You know what I mean. All relationships no matter what they are need a period of adjustment..."

"Jimmy, shut up," House told him.

--------------------------

Late that night House was walking back and forth in his living room. He had the walkie-talkie in his hand, but it was silent. Cuddy usually called him sometime between ten and eleven, rarely any later - though they might talk a lot later than that - and it was nearly eleven thirty now. Higa was sitting on the couch reading a medical journal and smiling secretly to himself. Finally House broke and he called Cuddy.

"Lisa?" He asked quietly enough as not to wake her if she actually was sleeping. "Please answer. I need to know you're ok. I'm not expecting you to really talk with me, but just say that you're ok."

First there was no answer and House was already giving up when Cuddy's voice came over: "I'm ok enough." Her voice was quiet and House thought he heard tears in it.

"Are you crying?" He was concerned.

"No, of course not, just tired," Cuddy responded. "Sorry to worry you but I just don't feel like talking tonight."

"Yeah, ok," House agreed. "Good night then."

"Good night," Cuddy answered and closed the connection.

House walked the floor for a few minutes yet and then he said: "I'm going to check on Aiko." He left the flat with a worried look on his face.

"Yes, I'm sure you will check on her, too," Higa muttered and decided to go to bed. There was no telling when Greg would be back.


	27. Nocturne

_Thank you for your opinions again! And here is the next instalment. _

--------------------

Cuddy heard a knock on her bedroom door. It sounded like House, but she knew for a fact that he was in his own flat, in addition to which he had also promised never to come into her bedroom – at least not without a specific invitation. It had to be Blythe who sometimes did check up on her even though she knew that she and House had the walkie-talkies. Tonight, given all that had happened, it was likely to be her. Cuddy wiped her cheeks the best she could. She didn't really want to let Blythe know that House had made her cry, but she didn't want to worry her either so she opened the door to find House standing outside. She was stunned.

"Not crying my ass," House observed running his eyes over her face and taking in the signs of weeping.

"What do you want," Cuddy swallowed to clear her throat. "And what are you doing here? I thought the upstairs was supposed to be my territory."

"In principle, yes," House agreed. "But you don't really expect me to stay out of the nursery."

"This isn't the nursery," Cuddy pointed out.

"Actually it is, for the next couple of months still," House gave her a small smile and nodded to her midsection which was currently housing the Trips.

"You're just splitting hairs again," Cuddy groused. "Besides, even if you wanted to check up on the kids you can't come up here unannounced. For all you know I might have been running naked in the corridor!"

"In that case I definitely need to come up here more often," House leered. "Seriously though, I was sure you weren't doing anything of the sort, not with Grey around."

"Fine," Cuddy conceded. "Besides, I probably wouldn't be doing it anyway Grey or no Grey."

"Yeah, there is time and place for everything," House nodded wisely.

"I'm still in the dark about why you're here, though," Cuddy reminded him.

"I need to talk with you," House said. "Come into Aiko's room, please."

"You don't want to come into mine?" Cuddy wondered.

"I promised not to," House pointed out. "It's your territory. I may fuzz the rules a little when it comes to the upstairs in general, but your room is definitely off limits for me."

"Since when have you respected my privacy?" Cuddy wondered. "I mean I've lost count of the times you've broken into my office, my house, heck even my trash!" She did, however, follow House into Aiko's room.

House walked to the crib and looked at Aiko, then he took the baby monitor and said "Just me" into it and turned it off.

"That was practised," Cuddy observed. "This cannot be the first time you're up here."

"Well, I may have visited Aiko once or twice before," House admitted sheepishly.

"Once or twice my ass!" Cuddy laughed. "So if you have been sneaking up the stairs – and you would actually need to use the stairs since I would hear the elevator! - in the quiet, why am I supposed to believe that you respect my room? Who knows how many times you have sneaked in there."

"I haven't," House replied seriously. "This situation is difficult enough as it is. I had no problem invading your house, and I still have no problem in invading your office, but since I actually own **this** house, I need to make sure that you can be comfortable in it, and respecting your personal space is important. So I'm not coming into your room – barring a medical emergency or specific invitation."

"Thank you," Cuddy accepted. "And you can use the lift when you come up; your secret is out anyway now, so you might as well be comfortable."

"What secret?" House frowned.

"That Aiko has you totally wrapped around her little finger," Cuddy explained. "Though, there has never been much of a secret in that, I have to say."

"Well be that as may, we didn't come in here to talk about me and Aiko but about me and you," House pointed out. "Take a seat, the rocking chair is pretty comfortable. And then tell me why are you crying?"

"Because I'm pregnant," Cuddy stated sitting down as instructed.

"Let's not do that song and dance again," House refused to play. "You don't cry for no reason. True, some of the reasons that make you cry now would not make you cry if you weren't pregnant, but there is still a reason. So stop evading the issue and tell me why did I make you cry this time? And don't try to say it wasn't me, because it pretty much has to be."

"Even so, why would I unburden my heart to you?" Cuddy asked.

"Because if I don't know what it is, I cannot fix it," House sighed in exasperation.

"There is no guarantee that you can fix it even if you do know," Cuddy still prevaricated.

"Fine, obviously it's personal and sensitive and emotional and all those girly things I don't get," House was getting frustrated. "But I still need to know. I need to at least **try** to understand. If it helps I give you my word that anything you say in this room will **not** be used against you."

"But it's so silly," Cuddy muttered. House didn't say anything but waited. "I thought you were going to wait for my super tanker." Cuddy finally decided to give half an answer.

Surprisingly enough, for a man who claimed not to understand girly things, House got the real meaning of the sentence – half-truth though it was: "I hurt your feminine pride!" House exclaimed. "I'm sorry. I was ... I didn't think. It's just that somehow I cannot associate you with casual sex. I don't mean that I couldn't have just sex with you, just that I was looking for something I could easily forget – not that that is what I got in the end, but that was the original purpose. And you really don't fall into that category."

"Yeah, I can sort of understand that with my mind, but why are you looking for something _easy to forget_," Cuddy wanted to know. "Why not see if we can be, well, I suppose the phrase is _friends with benefits_? I do know that it might not work, but why not even look into the option? It could make a lot of things easier."

"First of all, I wasn't really thinking that deeply last night," House pointed out. "Secondly, Akira has a theory that I was trying to escape my responsibilities even if only temporarily, and having something going on with you, would not serve that purpose since you are very closely connected – right now quite literally – with those responsibilities. I'm sorry for having hurt your pride, but last night was all me, not about you or how attractive you are. I think I've made it pretty clear over the years that I dig your ass like crazy." House gave her a slanted smile.

"Yeah," Cuddy conceded quietly, biting her lip. She refused to meet his eyes.

House stared at her for a moment: "There is more, isn't there? Come on, you cannot leave me guessing, I'm bound to come up with something totally outrageous on my own."

"You said that nothing I say here will be used against me?" Cuddy wanted confirmation.

"I promise," House frowned at how serious Cuddy was. "You know that I may want to outrage you or shock you but I have never wanted to hurt you."

"Yeah, I know," Cuddy sighed. "And you really haven't – well apart from once, but you sure have made amends for that! The thing is, sometimes people hurt themselves."

"I know," House agreed. "It happens with people. So how have you hurt yourself then?"

"I've fallen in love with you," Cuddy announced bravely, though House could see the tears in her eyes. House blinked.

"Oh," he needed a moment to collect his thoughts, because this really was the last thing he had expected to hear. "Are you sure? I don't mean to insult you, but is it possible that your pregnancy has caused you to give more meaning to our friendship? Because we do have a friendship."

"It's possible," Cuddy shrugged. "I have never been pregnant and in love before. But it sure feels exactly the same as it does without the pregnancy."

"I see," now it was House's turn to stare at the floor. "Why?" The question was honestly made. "Why would you fall in love with me? I'm..."

"No, don't you dare," Cuddy put up her hand to stop him from talking. "Don't give me your lecture about you being twice my age, which you aren't no matter how much I might wish that was the case, nor of not being good looking since you have no idea whatsoever of what women find good looking and most definitely don't say anything about not being nice. Niceness is greatly overrated. James is nice; his niceness has got him divorced thrice! Don't do all this why thing when the real question is: WHY NOT!"

"What do you mean, why not?" House was puzzled. "Why not love me? Is that what you mean? But it makes no sense!"

"If it made sense, it wouldn't be love," Cuddy explained patiently. "I know you hate emotions because you cannot rationalise them, at least most of the time you cannot. But the thing is, you don't deserve or earn love, you just get it. Or give it. Just look at Aiko! We all love her, but can you come up with any sensible reason for it? She is not related to us so the biological imperative is not there. When we first fell in love with her, she had no personality, she was just a baby: someone with very basic needs and very basic ways of expressing those needs. But we fell in love with her. Even you did, and you don't usually go for babies."

"Babies don't bother me," House shrugged not knowing how to respond to Cuddy's tirade.

"Not being bothered is not the same as loving a baby, and don't even try to tell me you don't know the difference," Cuddy lectured him. "This is the same, well not quite the same, but the principle is there. I love you, you have done nothing to make me love you; God knows you haven't. I'm sure I don't know anyone who works harder on not being loved than you do. But you cannot control it; do what you want there are people who love you nevertheless."

"Why?" House was truly mystified.

"Just because," Cuddy smiled.

"That is no answer!" House said irritably.

"It's the only one I have," Cuddy shrugged. "I'm sorry, but that's the way it usually goes."

"You shouldn't love me," House told her. "I'll just let you down."

"No you won't," Cuddy stated.

"I did last night!" House pointed out.

"No you didn't. You are not responsible for my feelings or expectations, not when you have done nothing to raise them. Look, House, I didn't like you going into the bar, and I don't like what happened," Cuddy explained. "But I cannot expect you to do something, or be something just because I love you. You have made no promises to me, apart from being there for the kids, and that is already a huge commitment from you. I'm not even sure you can give me more. And I don't want to force you. My feelings are my business. Yes, I would like it very much if you could love me back, but things don't always work that way. And even when they start that way, they don't always stay that way. Just look at you and Stacy!"

"Let's not," House suggested. "We may not be the best possible example to bring up right now."

"Why not?" Cuddy frowned. "You loved her and she loved you. If not for the infarction..."

"We still wouldn't be together now," House stated. "It might have looked idyllic and everything, having the concerned girlfriend stay at my side through it all, making the sacrifice of saving my life at the cost of loosing me, but that is not the full picture. Yes, we were together for five years, but I wasn't faithful all that time. Neither was she."

"Oh," it was Cuddy's turn to blink. "She never said."

"She wouldn't," House shrugged. "It was nobody's business but ours. But though it might have lasted longer without the infarction, it would not have lasted forever. But then nothing much does."

"Are you trying to tell me that I won't love you forever?" Cuddy quizzed him.

"You'd be a fool to," House growled refusing to look at her.

"Well, I suppose that we'll just need to wait and see what kind of a fool I am," Cuddy offered. "I didn't tell this to you to burden you, but for the sake of the kids, you need to know. I'm not trying to make you love me or give me more commitment than you have. I'll live if you never love me. This feeling is not the be all and end all of my existence. I'll have the kids, there's my job; I'll survive. Just don't take your friendship away from me because of this. Please."

"I wouldn't," House finally looked up. "But I can't see how I could avoid hurting you, as things stand."

"Let me worry about that," Cuddy told him. "If you go too far, I'll let you know. I suppose it will be easier now, since the cat is out of the bag and I don't need to try and hide my feelings from you anymore."

"I don't know what to say," House was at a loss.

"You don't need to say anything," Cuddy said. She stood up and got ready to go back to her own room. "Just think about what I have said. Once the Trips have arrived we need to sit down and really talk over the rules of this house."

"I agree with that," House sighed. He wasn't sure he would have recovered from this shock by the time the kids were due. Cuddy loved him? Why?

At the door Cuddy stopped and turned: "And House, if you do want to cross the threshold of my bedroom one of these nights, don't be afraid; I won't trap you inside. You'll be free to go."

"Knowing you, though, if I do leave, I better be sure that is what I want to do, since you won't let me in again should I discover that I made a mistake," House mused.

"True," Cuddy nodded. "But we can talk about that later. Now I think I need my sleep since the Trips seem to have settled for the night, too." She walked out leaving House to his pondering.

House didn't stay long. Aiko was sleeping peacefully and though he liked watching her sleep, he rather needed his own sleep, too. He stood up, turned the baby monitor on again and left the room. In the corridor he ran into Kasumii who was on her way to the nursery.

"Oh, you were still there," Kasumii exclaimed quietly. "I thought you must have forgotten to turn the monitor back on so I was on my way to check."

"No, I turned it on just now," House told her. "Aiko is sleeping peacefully." He made to continue his way to downstairs but Kasumii didn't move out of his way. "What is it Infant?"

"_Dare ni mo machigai wa aru dakara empitsu ni mo keshigomu ga tsuite iru,"_ Kasumii said to House in Japanese.

"I know," House nodded. "But what happens when you keep on making mistakes, one after another?"

"Then you keep on erasing," Kasumii stated. "That is how life works: you learn from your mistakes, but you also try to learn from the mistakes of others, since you'll never live long enough to make them all yourself."

"True, but I seem to be doing my best to try!" House sighed.

"Are you and Dr Cuddy ok about last night?" Kasumii asked cautiously.

"Yeah, about last night I think we are ok," House stated. "I'm just not as sure about **to**night." With that he left and Kasumii stared after him with a frown. What was that all about?

----------------------------

_The translation for the Japanese proverb is: Everyone makes mistakes. That's why there is an eraser on every pencil. – Or at least that was the translation they gave on the site where I found it from!_


	28. Encounter

_Thank you for the posts; it's nice to know what people think of my story :)_

-----------------

Monday found House alone in his office. He had been quietly brooding all morning and Chase and Foreman had made themselves scarce. Cameron had tried to talk to him – first to lecture him despite having been told not to, then, when he didn't pay any attention to her words at all, she had tried to find out what he was _feeling_ or what was wrong. That got House's attention enough to make him order her to the clinic to do his hours. Now he was alone trying to understand love, of all things.

It didn't make any sense to him. Loving Aiko was reasonable, to him, despite Cuddy disclaiming the biological imperative: Aiko had been trusted into his care it was a biological imperative to care for the next generation and those instincts had just kicked in and he got attached to Aiko; nothing to wonder about in that. Surely there was a biological imperative behind Cuddy's feelings, too. She was expecting his children, so it was natural – in the literal sense of that word – for her to want to attach the father of the children to her with closer ties; to make sure that he wouldn't stray but would stick around to care for the kiddies. Of course, Cuddy – being a rational human being – didn't consciously think that way and House absolutely trusted her word that she was not trying to manipulate him or tie him down or force him into something that he wasn't ready for. But the instinct just had to be there behind her feelings. Why else would she love him? He had never been nice to her – well, almost never. Until recently they had rarely had a conversation that didn't either start or end in yelling. He was rude – in the extreme, he was uncaring of people's feelings, even when they were dying, he was ... he was House! And that name made most people either grind their teeth or turn pale in fear.

One exception to that rule was, of course, Miss Anna Hill, who right then strolled into House's office and made herself at home on the couch.

"What do you want?" House glared at her.

"Just wanted to check if your ears are still attached to your head," Anna replied uncaringly. "I heard Dr Cameron was planning to chew them off."

"What do you know about that," House frowned.

"Everything that James does, obviously," Anna scoffed. "You know perfectly well that he is incapable of keeping secrets. He just has to tell someone."

"And you? Do you need to tell someone," House inquired.

"Nah," Anna denied. "But I just wanted to see if you are still in one piece. Mind you, she is only a slip of a girl so you ought to have no problems in dealing with her. Though, oddly enough, your present demeanour seems to suggest that something she said has affected you?"

"I wasn't even listening to Cameron," House replied absently. "I sent her to the clinic over an hour ago."

"Then who has got under your skin then?" Anna tilted her head and narrowed her eyes as she examined House. House felt like he was under the microscope – as, apparently, he might have been since suddenly Anna said: "Of course! Dr Cuddy. She told you."

"Told me what?" House asked cautiously.

"That she loves you," Anna stated calmly.

"She has said that to you?" House wondered. Somehow he hadn't thought Cuddy would have shared her feelings with anyone, she was a very private person. He was surprised that she had decided to tell even him.

"Of course not," Anna scoffed. "She doesn't indulge in that kind of girl talk. Makeup, drinks, old dates – especially those that went horribly wrong – things like that. But I'm not blind. She is good at hiding her feelings but not 24/7."

"Does anyone else know?" House asked worried. He didn't want Cuddy to be fodder for the hospital gossip, not with this, especially as he could well imagine what they would say. He had overheard enough of the things they said about Cameron and her _incredible crush_.

"I doubt it," Anna reassured him. "They do suspect you two have the hots for each other, but nothing deeper than that."

"Ok, that's good," House nodded.

"It seems to disturb you?" Anna observed.

"I don't know what to make of it," House shrugged. "It doesn't make any sense. She is funny, smart, has a great body – even with the Trips let alone when she isn't pregnant, she really could have anybody. Why would she want a grumpy old cripple?"

"Cause she does," Anna pointed out. "There is no rhyme or reason to love. You just have to live with it." Anna stared at him for a moment. "Do you want my advice? I'm not giving any if you don't want, because this is really none of my business, interesting though it is."

"Go ahead," House invited. "I'm certainly clueless on my own with this thing."

"File it away," Anna said. "I'm sure you have already considered the possibility that her feelings are just part of her pregnancy – a sort of biological side effect. If it's fleeting, then you can ignore it. If, in time, it turns out to be the real thing, then it's quite possible that your subconscious mind will have already processed the information and by then you will know how to deal with it."

"That's it?" House was surprised at Anna's words. "That is your advice?"

"Yep, for now," Anna nodded as she got up from the couch. "Just remember one thing: regardless of the nature of her love, it is you she loves. So please respect her and her feelings by not trying to be something you are not. Don't try to do or be something you think she might want you to be or do or feel because she loves you. Don't fake it. First of all, you don't know what she wants and secondly you couldn't keep it up anyway. Whether it's permanent or fleeting, it's you she loves. So be you, be the man you are. The changes you need to make for Aiko and the Trips are all the changes she wants you to do. Other than that all she needs for you to be is a friend, in your normal, irritating, dastardly way. That's what we all want."

Anna was about to walk out of the door when House stopped her: "We all who?"

"We all who love you," Anna replied nonchalantly. "Of course, some of us love you like you were the irritating family pet that just, somehow has managed to reach some kind of a soft spot in our hearts. I'm talking about those who have hearts, that is."

"You know, that feeling could even be reciprocated," House growled at her. They exchanged a humorous look of mutual understanding: The Dragon and the – house dog?

---------------------

Later that day House was going back into his office from the cafeteria. He was standing in front of the lifts impatiently, but when one finally arrived, he stopped dead. Ruth Rawls was coming out of the car. House stepped aside to make way for her; since it was reasonable that he would recognise her from the picture Sheridan had on his desk (as he indeed had) he nodded and said: "Mrs Rawls."

Coming face to face with House so suddenly had startled Ruth, though she had taken into consideration the possibility that she would see him at the hospital. She nodded back and made to walk past him. However, she had only just got half a step past him, when she changed her mind. She put her hand on House's sleeve stopping him from entering the lift. She turned her head towards him, but not to look into his face; her gaze hovered somewhere near his shoulder. House didn't look at her either, his eyes fastened on her right hand which was resting on his sleeve. They didn't stand very close to each other, but to anyone who happened to look into their direction there was something strangely intimate about their stance – intimate, but yet somehow distant.

"I just wanted to say: thank you," Ruth said quietly.

"For what?" House wondered. "I didn't really help you; quite the contrary I would imagine."

"I wasn't your responsibility, yet you chose to ..." Ruth turned her face enough to capture his eyes with hers. "Nobody could have talked me out of it then, but you cared enough to make sure I don't have additional regrets. You protected me from ... You protected me and I thank you for that."

House nodded his understanding: "How are you? Otherwise, that is."

"Not exactly on cloud nine," Ruth smiled wryly. "But then, I didn't expect to be."

"And did you come to see Sheridan?" House asked as Ruth took her hand from his sleeve and turned a little more towards him, though stepping half a step further away from him at the same time. He, too, turned a little.

"No," Ruth denied. "I made us an appointment for marriage counselling. We have children together; I'm not making any more hasty decisions."

"Good," House stated. Just then the lift opened its doors again and House made his way into it. As he turned towards Ruth again he said: "Take care." She nodded her acknowledgement as the doors slid close.

--------------------

That afternoon Sheridan stormed into House's office. The ducklings were in the conference room, but when they saw Sheridan's face, they decided that they had something important to do in the lab. Or actually, Chase and Foreman did, Cameron was all for staying – for whatever reason – but the guys nearly carried her with them, so House and Sheridan were alone in the Diagnostics department.

"What's going on between you and my wife," Sheridan asked from between gritted teeth.

"Nothing that I know of," House said. "What makes you ask?"

"I saw you by the lifts today," Sheridan explained. "I was with some important clients, so I couldn't come over, but when I got to my office she wasn't there. If she didn't come to the hospital to see me, then why was she here? And don't try to tell me it had nothing to do with you, since anyone with eyes on his head could see that there was something going on between you two."

"Then you have sharper eyes than I have," House observed. "There is nothing going on between me and your wife; unlike you and your secretary. Which rather makes me wonder why you are so upset over this imagined connection you think I have with your wife? You spend most of your time with Janelle, why do you care how your wife spends her time? I was quite under the impression that you have an open marriage or something. You certainly behave like it."

"I love my wife," Sheridan stated. "My affair with Janelle has nothing to do with Ruth."

"I can't imagine her agreeing with that sentiment," House shook his head.

"You don't understand," Sheridan paced the office. "Ruth is a lady; she is everything delicate and fine. Janelle – well Janelle is more, I don't know, earthy. A man needs something more basic every now and then. I couldn't do the things I do with Janelle with Ruth. She would be shocked."

House stared at the younger man. What century did he think he was living in? "Tell me, Sheridan, were you born that stupid or does it take special training?" House asked conversationally. "Personally I rather think you must have trained. What kind of reasoning is that? She is a lady? What has sex got to do with being a lady or anything?"

"You just don't understand," Sheridan insisted.

"No, I don't," House agreed. "I don't understand you at all. Your wife has given birth to two kids and let me tell you that is not a delicate process. She does look the lady, I give you that, but she also looks like a woman. I can't believe I'm giving you marriage counselling, it's so not me, but let me tell you: if there is something you can't ask your wife to do then you have no business doing it anyway; or then you have no business to be married."

"You have never been married, and you don't know Ruth," Sheridan was already forgetting his initial irritation at House with this new direction the conversation was taking – not that it made him any less irritated, just for a different reason. "I respect her too much to expect her to, well, to be more like Janelle."

"That's a unique view, I must say," House mused. "I don't think even I would come up with that one. I've never been the faithful type, but it has never, not even once, occurred to me to claim infidelity is a sign of respect. And I'm quite certain that explanation will not go down very well with your wife, either."

"I'm not going to tell her about Janelle," Sheridan insisted.

"You don't have to," House decided to inform him. "According to the latest hospital gossip your wife walked in on you and Janelle last Saturday night."

"What!" Sheridan turned pale.

"That might have been the reason why she didn't come to see you today," House pointed out.

"Then what was she doing here?" Sheridan tried to understand what was going on; his world had just turned upside down.

"You have to ask her," House said. "Your marriage is none of my business. But even so I'll give you one final piece of advice: try to drag your mind to the new millennium. Ladies, in this day and age, have a very healthy sex-life. And if you go out to find what you think is missing at home, there is nothing stopping her from doing the same. Now, get out of my office; my soap is about to start."

-------------------------

That night Cuddy called House again.

"Are you ok?" She asked him.

"Me?" House exclaimed. "I'm not the one who is pregnant."

"But I did rather drop a bomb on you last night," Cuddy reminded him.

"Yeah, you did," House acknowledged. "And I'm still a little reeling from it. But I'm digesting it."

"Good," Cuddy said. "I'd hate it to create any awkwardness between us."

"I rather think there will be plenty of things that will create all sorts of things, difficulties and problems between us," House laughed a little. "That one won't probably even make the top ten of them."

"Yeah," Cuddy agreed. "Knowing us and how obstinate we can be you're probably right."

"So, how are the Trips behaving this fine night," House asked settling on his bed, ready to talk as long as Cuddy wanted.

"Surprisingly well," Cuddy answered. "It's even possible that they are starting to listen to me."

"Well, you have always had the _House-touch_," House smiled in response.

Cuddy could hear it in his voice and she smiled too.


	29. Some other name

_Thank you for your reviews! Ok, I'm starting to get ready for my Harry Potter week-end (eliminating other distractions!) so this is the last instalment till some time next week. _

_-------------------------_

It took House a couple of weeks to completely _un-freak_ about Cuddy's confession. Fortunately the team had three interesting cases in a row, so he didn't have much time to ponder on the _mysteries of love_ and once the last case had been solved, - and during all that time Cuddy hadn't behaved in any way differently from before -, he decided that Miss Hill had been right: better just file away the information and go on as before. Cuddy did notice that House, once in a while, did stare at her somewhat mystified, but even those looks were getting fewer. The nightly conversations went on as before and somehow they got the routines of living in the same house down to a pretty workable pattern. They got accustomed to each other.

Grey moved in officially as Neffie got back from Europe and needed her own flat back. He settled in smoothly, but that was hardly surprising, considering how much time he had spent in the house anyway – as House remembered to remind him at every turn. Aiko stayed home most days with Cuddy and Kasumii, only visiting her Daddy for lunch – even when there was a case, though then the lunch might be shorter. Cuddy spent a few hours in her office at home every day. Mostly she read up on the latest research – both medical and administrational – but she also wrote an article about an old case of hers that she hadn't had time to write at the time. Sometimes Miss Hill worked with her in the late afternoon, helping her stay on top of the things going on in the hospital. Though now that it was clear that Sheridan was just a temporary head of the hospital, the department heads had settled down to business as usual – since Cuddy had taken House's advice and promised them a day of reckoning if things weren't the way she liked them when she returned.

Sheridan was no longer a problem. True, he had been almost totally eliminated during the first two weeks or so, but he was a good administrator – once he got down to it – so there was a possibility that he could have regained the ground he lost and possibly pose a problem still, but he was too busy. He was doing his best trying to save his marriage – and by all signs that was an uphill battle. Of course Cecil – who was their therapist, too – didn't reveal anything that went on during the sessions, but there had been a couple of fights that had taken place in Sheridan's office, or a few remarks actually made in the corridor, which fed the gossip mill. Blythe had seen Ruth once on her way to Cecil's office and they had talked briefly. Apparently Ruth's family was behind her and supporting her all the way, and especially helping with the kids.

Forbes and Taunton were also no longer causing problems for Cuddy, unsurprisingly. Once the Janelle-Sheridan affair became public the alliance between Forbes and Taunton had died a very acrimonious death. Those two were no longer on speaking terms. Nobody really knew what was going on with Janelle's marriage, but her father was, for once in her life, mad at her and showing his disapproval. She was not a happy camper. Nobody felt sorry for her.

Cuddy should have been happy, and in many ways she was. But House could see that she really was more than ready to have the kids. She still had some four weeks to go, but the Trips were getting truly burdensome and though she did do as much work as she could, the enforced inactivity was getting to her. Sure, Grey helped her with an exercise routine, but it was not enough for Cuddy who was used to running regularly. She was chafing at the bit, and getting irritable. Sometimes House initiated a row just to get her to let some of the steam out, but there was very little anyone could really do before the Trips were born.

However, even with the Mother of All Monsters in the residence almost all the time, Blythe noticed that House was willing to spend more time with everyone in the family room in the main house than before. True, he rarely came there unless Aiko was there, too, but since Aiko was there every night until her bedtime, then so was House. He didn't always take part in the conversations, but quite often just played with Aiko on the floor or sometimes they played the piano together. But it seemed to Blythe that his tolerance for people was better than it had been. And sometimes he stayed even after Aiko went to bed.

One such evening, when Kasumii had taken – the already sleeping – Aiko from House to carry her to bed, House stayed at the piano again. Cuddy was curled up (as best she could) on the couch, Blythe was knitting something, both Grey and Higa were reading and Wilson – who was staying the night after having dined with them – was just relaxing in an armchair and listening to House play.

"You know, we really need to decide on the names," Cuddy said suddenly.

"What names?" Wilson was startled from his stupor.

"The children," Cuddy explained. "They'll be here in no time and though I have called them Greer, Trey and Leona, I'm not quite happy with those names. I only came up with them to make sure Greg Junior, Lisa Junior and Jimmy Junior wouldn't stick."

"Jimmy Junior wouldn't have done that anyway," House observed from his seat. "As he turned out to be a she."

"True; and I have to say I kind of like Greer, but Trey and Leona," Cuddy mused. "I'm not quite happy with those."

"So what kind of names have you been thinking of?" Blythe wanted to know.

"Everything and anything," Cuddy sighed. "I mean, I'm going to label my babies for the rest of their lives! And I don't even know them."

"Tough assignment," House agreed. "Mind you, they can change it themselves if they hate it too much. Just look at Neffie."

"True," Cuddy accepted. "And no matter what we come up with, they probably will hate them anyway, at least they will when they reach the teens."

"That is usually the case," Blythe agreed. "So do what you think is best."

"The children will make what they want of their names anyway," Higa pointed out.

"Why don't we just throw a few names in and see if any of them go in the direction you'd like?" Wilson suggested.

"How about Clay?" House sure was game. "Nice, earthy name."

"Clay House?" Cuddy sneered slightly. "I think not."

"House?" House repeated a little uncertainly. "Are you ... Is that what you want?"

"Don't you want it?" Cuddy asked seriously. The rest of the room went quiet; everybody was practically holding their breath.

"I'm ok which ever way you want to go," House shrugged. "I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. But I just sort of assumed you'd want them to have your name. After all, you're the one who does all the work here – and you were the one who planned for a child, even if things didn't quite go as planned in the end."

"I may be doing the work right now, but if you think you can shift all the work of raising them on me for the next 18 years, forget it!" Cuddy decided not to make a big deal of it – she definitely didn't want to bring up the _L-word_ again, not when House had just un-freaked from his previous encounter with it. Though loving House had made it impossible for her to think of giving the kids her own name.

"You don't want them to..., I don't know, carry your name then?" House wanted to be sure Cuddy wasn't trying to please him or in any way going against her own wishes.

"I wanted a child," Cuddy shrugged. "That was what I wanted, someone to love and care for. It was never about the name – my brothers have that covered anyway, nor was it about having my genes live on or being immortal through my child. I just wanted a child. I mean _What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face. O, be some other name Belonging to a man. What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet._"

"Lisa is right," Blythe decided to voice her opinion, because she suspected that her son had another reason, too, for not having thought of passing on his name to his kids. "It's just a name. Any traditions that go with it go with it only if you allow them. You've made it your own, regardless of any who have been before you; your children will do the same."

"You know the Japanese saying: breeding rather than birth," Higa pointed out, too. "Just because they have their father's name, does not mean they won't have their mother's breeding."

"House," House musingly. He digested the information for a moment. "I suppose that means that Stone and Charity are out of question too as names?"

"You bet!" Cuddy huffed.

"Brick? Straw? Cat?" Wilson joined in.

"Boys! Settle down," Blythe stopped them before they got to any more outrageous houses. "This is serious business, so stop fooling around and start of names that actually can be used. David? You haven't said anything?" Blythe turned to Grey who had been just watching the proceedings from the sidelines.

"I don't think it really is my place to suggest anything," Grey responded.

"Suggest what?" Kasumii asked as she got back from Aiko's room.

"Names for the Trips," Grey told her.

"Ah, I see." Kasumii nodded as she sat down on the floor and leaned against his legs. "No, I don't think we have anything to say to that. Unless you start suggesting something truly outrageous in which case we might have to step in. Just in the interest of child protection, you understand."

"Like Clay and Charity House?" Cuddy brought up.

Kasumii knew where those had come from and gave House an admonishing look: "You didn't!"

"Hey, those are good, old English names," House defended himself. "Nothing wrong with them. No? Ok, how about Mick?"

"No," Cuddy vetoed immediately.

"See, this is what I hate about women," House turned to Wilson. "They say _we have to decide_, but in truth it's a Royal _We_. You're not really supposed to have an opinion yourself. They will do all the deciding and that's that." Wilson refused to respond to House's opinion – he knew when to shut up even if House didn't.

"Well come up with something I can consider, and see what happens," Cuddy invited with exaggerated patience.

"Priya," House threw in as a suggestion.

"Priya?" Cuddy frowned confused.

"Yes," House confirmed. "It's Hindi and means _Darling_ or _Loved one_."

"Priya," Cuddy repeated. "Aiko, Greer and Priya. I think I like it."

"Wow! The age of miracles is really not over then," House was actually genuinely surprised that Cuddy had accepted his suggestion. "That leaves us with one name for a boy short."

"Well, you could call him James," Wilson offered jokily.

"Thank you, but no," Cuddy smiled. "I said that there are no Juniors in this ship."

"Super tanker," House reminded her _sotto voce_, which made Cuddy blush a little – others believed it to be in annoyance, but they were used to House's remarks so nobody said anything. "But I agree; if I cannot have a Lisa Junior then I will not have Jimmy junior, either. So any other suggestions?"

"How about Ben," Blythe suddenly said.

"Ben," House tasted the name. "Short form of Benjamin, or Benjiro."

"You'd do that?" Higa asked quietly. "You'd name your son after mine?"

"He is Aiko's father," House pointed out. "He named me her guardian in his will. If not for him, and Noriko and you, there would be no Triplets on the way at all."

"Dr Cuddy?" Higa turned to Cuddy almost timidly. He had been calling her Cuddy or Lisa for some time now, but with such an important issue at stake he fell back to a more formal address.

"Ben is a good name," Cuddy agreed. "And if you have no objection, I would very much like to name my – our son, after yours."

"Thank you," Higa had tears in his eyes, but he kept his composure. "I'm honoured."

-------------------------

Later that night House's walkie-talkie came alive. It happened after Cuddy had already signed off about half an hour before. House was still awake, though, so he answered immediately.

"House," Cuddy's voice came over a little nervously. "I think this might fall under the heading of medical emergency. My water just broke."

------------------------------------------------

_I know, I'm evil! Cuddy is going to be in labour for over a week. But I promise, neither she nor the Trips are in any danger. Other than that, you'll have to wait and see._


	30. Triple time

_I'm back in the land of the living and here is the next episode! Thank you for your patience and your reviews :)_

------------------------------

"My water just broke." Cuddy's words hit House like a ton of bricks! This was it. No backing out now, he was going to be a Father of Four; it almost sounded like a joke, only he was not laughing: he knew that now he had to be there for Cuddy for real. And not only for now but for the next eighteen years at least. But that was the future crashing down on him; now was not the time for that! Now was the time to get Cuddy to the hospital.

"Call Jordan," House told her. "I'll be there in five." Cuddy closed the connection and House got going. In the living room he met Higa, who had not gone to bed yet either (sixth sense? possibly; with Akira you never knew). "Cuddy's water just broke," House said as he limped towards the door connecting the flat to the house.

"Do you want me to call Dr Chase?" Higa asked him.

"If you would," House replied over his shoulder as he went.

It wasn't five minutes later that House opened Cuddy's door. She was walking the floor talking to Helen Jordan on the phone, as soon as she saw House she finished the call and stopped before him, looking strangely lost and almost childlike which House thought was ridiculous given her condition.

"Wilson is getting dressed," House told Cuddy putting her hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "He'll drive you to the hospital. I will follow on the bike once I have alerted the rest of the house. Unless things start happening faster than I expect and Jimmy has to step on it, I may actually reach the hospital before you, but I'll definitely be there soon after. Akira is calling Chase, so he will be with Jordan in no time. And I suspect he'll alert Cameron and Foreman, too, but I don't know what they will do."

"Why did you call Chase?" Cuddy's eyes widened. "I thought he was going to be there only if something goes wrong."

"He will be needed only if something goes wrong," House hugged Cuddy. "But I'm not waiting till then to have him on stand-by. He will be there, hopefully to just twirl his thumbs, but this is a multiple birth. Better safe than sorry even though you know that Jordan has been perfectly happy with the way your pregnancy has gone so far. Sure, it would have been nice for the kids if you could have gone the full term but they will be fine even now. So get ready and I'll meet you at the hospital."

Just then the door opened again, and Kasumii came in to help Cuddy get ready. House had stopped at Aiko's room on his way to Cuddy's and alerted the Nanny through the baby monitor. As he left the room he found Grey in the corridor waiting.

"Anything I can do?" Grey asked.

"Nothing, thanks," House nodded. "You wait here with Kasumii and Aiko and we'll call you as soon as we have any news. Though first labour does usually take at least 15 hours so it's possible that you'll have to drive Kasumii and Aiko to the hospital with you when you come to work tomorrow, but I'll call you before that with an update on things."

"Don't you need someone to drive your Mother and Dr Higa to the hospital?" Grey asked.

"You can ask them if they need a lift," House said. "Mother does have a license, but I'm not sure how willing she is to drive, especially at night. So thank you for the offer." House went back down and just as he left the lift he saw Wilson emerge from his room fully dressed and ready to go.

"Cuddy?" Wilson asked.

"Kasumii is helping her to get ready," House informed Wilson. "You can go up and wait outside her door. She is a bit panicky but that is hardly surprising. Just do your best reassuring and caring doctor impersonation and you'll be fine."

"It's not an impersonation!" Wilson huffed at House half-heartedly but House wasn't listening. He was already on his way to his mother's rooms.

-------------------------

House had been right; he got to the hospital just before Wilson and Cuddy so he was able to be there with the wheelchair when Wilson helped Cuddy out of the car at the hospital. It was the orderly who actually pushed Cuddy's chair, but House and Wilson both flanked her and she had to admit that having her "knights" with her did feel good and reassuring – which was sort of silly since neither of them were obstetricians. On the other hand, Wilson was good at being reassuring in general and House, well his credentials might state that he specialized in infectious deceases and nephrology, but in truth he specialized in everything. If something went wrong, he would know what to do. Probably even before anybody else.

Since it was a multiple birth Cuddy was taken into a delivery room straight away. It was equipped with everything that might be needed if something went wrong, with either Cuddy or the baby. It was situated close to an operation room in case emergency c-section was called for. Cuddy didn't like all the precautions though she, herself, had agreed on them with Dr Jordan when discussing the birth. Cuddy knew that her age was against her as was the fact that she was having triplets, but she still wished she could have ignored the precautions. Chase met them outside the delivery room – he had only just arrived so he was not yet in scrubs.

"I left messages for Cameron and Foreman but I don't know when they will get them, so I have no way of knowing if they'll be here tonight," Chase told House and Cuddy. "I'll go and scrub in, but I don't really expect I need to do anything since Helen told me to just make sure I don't get in her way or faint. Like I would do that! I'm not the Dad here."

"The Dad is not going to faint, either," House pointed out dryly. "I'm not so sure about Uncle Jimmy though, so Wilson, I think you better stay out of the delivery room and wait with the grandparents."

"Is that ok with you Lisa or do you need me to do something for you?" Wilson wanted confirmation from Cuddy.

"I'm fine," Lisa nodded. "I'm sure House has pretty much everything covered. Mind you, I do need you to stay close so that if he gets too abusive with the nurses I can call you to drag him out of there."

"Hey! I never abuse the nurses," House insisted – causing a passing nurse to gasp. "I'm gentle as a lamb."

"More like a wolf in a _lamb's_ clothing," Cuddy huffed. "However, these are your kids being born so you better try to behave!"

"Fine, fine," House was patiently humouring Cuddy – and earning a deathly glare from her for it. "I'll behave. I'll be the epitome of good manners and politeness. Now, you get in there and I'll follow as soon as I've made sure all the paperwork is in order. Judging by the interval and strength of your contractions you'll have plenty of time to lecture me on my manners and whatever else it is that you want to complain about."

--------------------------

House had changed into scrubs too, once he had made sure everything was in order with the paper work. He had also checked that Blythe and Higa were with Wilson in the waiting room. He reminded them that this would probably take quite some time and that his office was available as well, so they didn't really need to stay in one place. Once he was sure everything else was under control – and he had also seen Cameron and Foreman arrive at the hospital – he went back to Cuddy.

"Where have you been?" Cuddy nearly yelled at House as soon as he walked in. She, herself, was walking back and forth in the room, leaning on a nurse when she felt a contraction. "Helen finished her examination ages ago."

"And she also told you that this is going to take _ages_ didn't she," House observed calmly.

"Is that any reason for you to not be here?" Cuddy demanded.

"No," House admitted. "Not at all. But even if I take my time in checking that everything is in order and that my Mom and Akira are comfortable I'm not going to miss anything important. Unless you really relish the idea of me seeing you all sweaty and panting and in pain."

"Well I think you ought to observe your own handiwork!" Cuddy huffed.

"Are you sure you want to phrase it quite like that?" House smiled at her making her blush. She got the reference to the story they had made about not having had sex but House having just given a _donation_, so to speak, and her getting pregnant with the aid of a turkey paster or some similar thing. "Besides, no matter how you got pregnant you know you cannot guilt me! I don't feel guilty about things; it's just not in my nature. I wasn't the one who chose to have fertility treatments; I'm not the one who chose to get pregnant. And no matter how painful this delivery will be it won't kill you! So I'll always be one up on you on the pain department."

"Fine, don't feel guilty," Cuddy huffed, knowing that House had a point. "I don't know why I wanted you here in the first place. Go, leave me, play your games or watch your soaps or do whatever you want. I'm fine here. I'm just giving birth to your triplets, why should you care!"

House smiled at her and her tirade. He walked to her and hugged her with one arm – he still had his cane in the other hand: "Shut up Cuddy," House murmured into her ear. "I'm here because I want to be here and because you need me. Now, talk to me, tell me what you need and let's get these kiddies out of the safety of your womb and into the cold, cruel world."

"Have I ever told you that you really have a knack with words; like really saying the right thing at the right time," Cuddy glared at him, though she did rest her head against his shoulder.

"No I don't think you have," House mused. "I've always wondered why not."

-------------------------

It did take about fifteen hours for Cuddy to give birth to the kids. House was with her all the way. Ben made his entrance into this world at about three o'clock in the afternoon, Priya followed him about fifteen minutes later and Greer was born near four o'clock. They were all healthy and perfect and though Cuddy was exhausted almost to the point of being dead to the world, she was fine, too. Chase had been there all the time as well. Only observing since, fortunately, his skills were not needed, but the wait finally got to him. Once Greer was born and gave her first cry, Chase fainted.

"Hmm, that's interesting," House observed from Cuddy's side as Chase crumbled to the ground. "Anything you feel you need to tell me Cuddy?"

"What are you talking about?" Cuddy was completely in the dark about his purpose.

"Just that Chase was so adamant that only Daddies faint during delivery," House observed. "And now he is fainting all over the place. I was just wondering?"

"Oh, shut up you!" Cuddy replied half-heartedly. She wasn't really interested in anything House had to say. She had two of her children in her arms and Greer was next to her in House's arms and that was all she really cared about. Sure she felt sorry for Chase, but this was a hospital; plenty of nurses and doctors around to take care of him. Cuddy just wanted to see her babies and marvel at the tiny, perfect creatures.

"They don't really look so hot, do they?" House stated looking at the kids. "Sort of wrinkly and red and small."

"Shut up House," Cuddy told him. "They are perfect and beautiful."

"Fine, if you're happy who am I do disagree," House shrugged. "Now, we need to give them back to the nurses so they can finish measuring them and doing whatever else they need to do. They are also going to wheel you into your room and the kids will be brought there in a moment. Will you be ok while I go and tell Mom and Akira and the rest of the gang the news?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Cuddy nodded. "I'm euphoric but even so I think I will fall asleep the moment they take the kids. I'm fine for the time being."

"Ok, good," House accepted as he stood up and left the room. As he looked back from the door he saw that she had been right: she was already asleep.

----------------

House found his House-hold in the waiting room. Not only were his mother and Dr Higa there, Wilson, Cameron, Foreman, Kasumii with Aiko, Grey and Miss Hill were all there as well.

"All present and accounted for," House informed them. "Cuddy is asleep but she is well. The only casualty was Chase who fainted in the end."

"He didn't!" Foreman exclaimed gleefully.

"When can we see them?" Blythe wanted to know. "The children and Cuddy?"

"I'll have the nurse wheel the children through here when she takes them into Cuddy's room," House promised. "But I'd give Cuddy about an hour or so before disturbing her. It wasn't an easy job she did."

"But she is ok?" Higa asked.

"Yes, they are all fine," House confirmed. "Jordan wants to keep them here for a week or so, just to be safe, but so far nothing indicates any problems at all."

"Excellent," Miss Hill concluded. "That's perfect."


	31. About loving

_Thank you for your reviews! Here's the next chapter! And I'm writing as fast as I can, honest..._

--------------------------

Chase looked sheepish when he joined the rest of the House-hold outside in the waiting room. Foreman smiled widely as he saw the Australian.

"Well, well, well," Foreman gloated. "I see you have recovered from your ordeal."

"How do you think you would have survived the experience," Chase asked surprisingly good-humouredly. "House and Cuddy having kids and depending on you to save them if anything went wrong? Yeah, I fainted, I admit it. But you have no idea how relieved I was that I wasn't needed there. And not just for them and the kids."

"I don't think I would have handled it any better," Cameron observed.

"You wouldn't have taken on the job," Foreman pointed out. "Though I don't think they would have asked you; you're too emotional."

"I'm also and immunologist, not an intensivist!" Cameron snapped at him.

"Calm down kids," Blythe decided to interfere before their relief turned into a fight. "All is well and that is all that matters. Greg said we can see the children for a moment as they leave the delivery room. Let's not start a fight here or he will change his mind."

She had barely got the words out of her mouth when House opened the door for the nurse who was wheeling the crib holding the triplets.

"Ok, the circus is in town everyone have your tickets ready?" House announced.

"Gregory!" Blythe gave him a very short admonishing look before concentrating on the children. "Oh, they are so beautiful!"

Cameron and Miss Hill followed suit and went all gaga (in House's opinion) on the kids. Kasumii handed Aiko to House and joined the choir. The men stood aside, waiting for their turn, but Blythe drew Dr Higa closer to look, too.

"Go on Foreman," Chase gave his colleague a superior smile. "No need to pretend with us, we know your secret."

"What secret," Foreman frowned, though he did have his suspicions.

"That you adore babies," House observed dryly. "Aiko has you totally wrapped around her little finger and you turn into a total marshmallow any time you're within fifty feet of a baby, any baby."

"I ..." Foreman started indignantly, but then he looked at the babies: "Oh, shoot." He gave up; he knew he wasn't fooling anyone, so he just joined the ladies and Dr Higa.

"And how are you now Chase?" Wilson asked him.

"I'm just fine," Chase insisted. "Too much adrenaline and too little food."

"I told you to go and eat something," House told him.

"You did, and I should have listened to you," Chase admitted. "But no matter, the babies are fine and Dr Cuddy came through with flying colours. All is well."

"And that is the main thing," Wilson stated as he, too, went over to the babies.

"Hmmm," House agreed – he was making fish-faces with Aiko again. "That is all that really matters. You're not interested in adoring the kids, though Chase?"

"I saw them already," Chase shrugged. "And though I like babies just fine, and absolutely love Aiko, I don't really have this urge to worship them. And I suspect I'm not alone in that position."

"If you want to know my opinion," Grey observed from the sidelines. "I definitely see your point of view. I'm ok with babies, and some of them – like Aiko and I expect the Trips, too – I learn to love as they grow and I spend time with them, but I have no special urge to go and adore every infant that I come across. Babies are ok, and I expect I will love my own the moment they arrive, if Kasumii ever wants any, but that's it."

"I hear you," House nodded. "So Aiko, do you want to see your siblings?" House asked his daughter. Aiko wasn't so sure. She frowned at House and said: "Dada!" in a very demanding voice. "Yes, I am still your Daddy," House told her. "And I will always be your Daddy, never fear. Just because I'm Daddy to your two sisters and your brother, does not mean I'm any less your Daddy. You'll see; it will be fine. And you will love Ben and Greer and Priya just as much as MamaLisa and I will. It will all work out." Aiko looked a little doubtful but she allowed House to carry her to the crib without a fuss. She did look at her siblings but didn't appear to be greatly impressed by them and soon the nurse wheeled them away.

"They are beautiful babies," Dr Higa told House. "You can tell Lisa that she has every right to be proud of them."

"I will," House said. "She did well."

--------------------------------

Cameron was standing in the corridor watching the nurse wheel the triplets towards the maternity ward. Blythe came to stand next to her.

"They are beautiful," Cameron stated. "So small, though perfect."

"And real," Blythe observed causing Cameron to turn to look at her.

"Yes," Cameron acknowledged. "I suppose you could say that."

"You need to let go, Allison," Blythe told her gently.

"Because he belongs with Lisa now?" Cameron asked almost rebelliously.

"No," Blythe denied. "I cannot say that, not yet at least. I really don't know what is going on with those two and to be quite honest, I don't know if my son has it in him to belong to any woman, to trust anyone enough ... there are some things ... No, never mind those. He is a very complicated man, even more so than even I thought. I don't know how much the children can heal him. It is possible that he will never get together with Lisa, in the real sense of that word. But that may be true of all women."

"You are telling me that I have no hope," Cameron was resigned.

"I have no idea if you do or not," Blythe said. "But the one thing that I do know is that for now Greg's only priority will be his children. That may be all the commitment he is even capable of, but I cannot say for sure. But no matter how that goes, for your own sake you need to let go. Stop dreaming. I'm not telling you to stop loving him or hoping that one day you might have a chance with him, because I know that that is not something you can control. But I am telling you to put a stop to your pointless longing for him. Stop waiting; go on with your life. If you find someone else, good. If not, well, there are worse things in life than being alone. But right now you are letting your feelings for him stunt your growth as a human being. And that is what you need to stop. Put your feelings aside; take control of your life and grow. Be yourself. Because if you're not, then you absolutely will have no chance with him, ever."

"But how do I do that?" Cameron wanted to know. "How do I ignore my feelings for him when I work with him every day? How do I let go of my longing when I see his softer side every time he is with Aiko – and from now on with the rest of his children?"

"That is why he told you to find another job," Blythe reminded Cameron. "You need to get some distance between you two. He does care about you; it just isn't the way you want him to. And you have to stop waiting for him to change. For your own sake."

"Yes, I know you are right. My mind tells me you are," Cameron admitted. "He belongs to his children for now and it is indeed possible that that is the situation for the rest of his life. I need to move on, find something else to fulfil my life. I just don't know how."

"You need to figure it out," Blythe wasn't giving any quarter here. "Because if you don't figure out how you can move on, he will push you and that will hurt. Much more than you can predict right now."

---------------

Cuddy woke up to find House sitting in a chair near her bed. She blinked once feeling disoriented, not quite sure where she was and what had happened that made her feel so different. Then she smiled and looked around.

"They're all here, right next to you," House told her and indeed she saw a crib next to her bed where her three newborns were sleeping peacefully.

"Aren't they crowded there? All together," Cuddy frowned.

"They are used to crowded, remember?" House pointed out. "The nurses wanted to be all protocol and have them all in individual cribs, but I told them no, not unless they need treatment or oxygen. There is no need to separate them yet; its shock enough for them to be outside, no need to make it worse by making them face it alone."

"You have some very unusual ideas, you know," Cuddy observed, not that she disagreed with House, but she didn't think anyone else saw things the way House did.

"I was just thinking how I would feel in their shoes," House shrugged. "Not that they have shoes, but you know what I mean."

"Yes, I do," Cuddy started to move to get into a sitting position.

"Hey, don't do that," House tried to stop her but Cuddy ignored him, only to wish she hadn't as soon as she got into a sitting position. House gave her a knowing look: "I told you not to sit up. I know the trips are small as far as scraps of humanity go, but they still left you pretty sore. And since you didn't take any painkillers you are bound to feel it." House limped to the bed and used the mechanism to get it into a reclining position which still allowed Cuddy to see her kids, but didn't put that much pressure to places that didn't like pressure right then. Once he had done that, he leaned closer to her and kissed her on the forehead: "You did good." House murmured to her.

Cuddy smiled: "I did, didn't I?"

"Yeah," House nodded. "You have every right to feel smug and superior. Especially when Chase is around."

"Chase!" Cuddy remembered suddenly - and now she actually cared, too. "How is he?"

"Just fine," House told her. "And next time when I tell him to go get something to eat or at least have sugar in his coffee he will listen to me."

"Was that all that was wrong with him?" Cuddy asked.

"Pretty much," House nodded. "Though he did have quite a lot of adrenalin running through his veins as well, just in case, so when none of it was needed – thankfully – it hit him rather hard."

"And he looked so calm there," Cuddy shook her head smilingly. "I would never have thought he was nervous."

"Then you weren't thinking," House told her wryly. "Had there been any need, Chase would have done the work and he would have saved the babies if humanly possible, but just think: they are our babies. You are the head of this hospital and I'm his boss; in addition to that we are his family of choice. Of course he was a nervous wreck!"

"Of course, you're right," Cuddy realised. "Somehow I just didn't think of it. But then I was somewhat otherwise occupied."

"So you were," House smiled. "And, as usual, you did good work."

"So did you," Cuddy told him. "I'm not sure I could have done it without you."

"Sure you could have," House dismissed. "I'm not so sure about the nurses, though. Had you ranted and cursed at them the way you did at me, they would all have resigned there and then. So I'm sure they, too, were happy to have me there to take the brunt of your displeasure."

"I wasn't that bad!" Cuddy insisted. "I didn't curse and rant. I never do!"

"Then it must have been your doppelganger," House mused. "Because it sure is someone I have on tape doing those things."

"On tape!" Cuddy exclaimed.

"Well, this is a teaching hospital," House pointed out innocently. "And it's not every day that we have a chance to video triple delivery. I was just thinking the good of our students when I told them to tape it."

"You..." Cuddy was lost for words. "I..."

"Relax," House decided to stop playing games before Cuddy burst a blood vessel. "It is on tape, but I gave it to Miss Hill. She promised to guard it with her life until you have seen it and can decide if you want to keep it or not."

"Anna has it?" Cuddy was not sure she could trust House with something like this.

"Yes, and it really is the only copy and nobody has seen it as yet," House stated.

"Ok, if Anna has it, then ok," Cuddy sighed with relief. "I didn't really curse and rant?"

"I'm afraid you did," Helen Jordan stated from the door as she walked in. "But I've heard worse. It is a rather stressful situation after all."

"Helen!" Cuddy greeted her. "Good to see you. And thank you!"

"All in a days work," Helen smiled. "I just wanted to see you and check how you and the kids are doing. There are people out there who want to see you."

"Cuddy seems to be pretty much her normal self," House said as he stood up making ready to leave the room. "And the lobsters are sleeping peacefully, too."

"House!" Cuddy cried indignantly. "They are not that red."

"I suppose not," House conceded as he walked out of the door. "Not **that** red, but they are still red and wrinkly."

"Why on earth did I ever think having kids with him was a good idea!" Cuddy appealed to higher powers.

"Probably the disparity between his words and actions," Helen observed. "He may say the most outrageous things, but he is amazing with his daughter and I have rarely seen any man be as sure and yet tender with his newborns as he was with the triplets. And he really was there for you, too."

"Hmm. According to Dr Wilson, one of House's patients once pointed out that it's not what he says but what he does that matters," Cuddy conceded. "And it is true that some of the biggest, personal donations that he has got have come from patients that – at the time – seemed to hate him the most."

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," Helen smiled as she got ready to take Cuddy's pulse and blood pressure.


	32. The Watchers

_Right, here's the next chapter and I suppose I should give out a tissue-warning with this one. Just in case. I don't think its angsty, though, just a teensy bit sad._

-------------

Wilson found House sitting in his wheelchair outside the nursery in the maternity ward. He was looking in through the glass at the triplets who were being made ready to go home. Cuddy and Kasumii were with them and the nurses while Aiko was with House.

"So you are getting your children all home today?" Wilson opened.

"Yeah," House replied almost absently. He was holding Aiko against him and rubbing her back almost mechanically. Aiko didn't mind, she was half asleep against him.

"That didn't sound very enthusiastic," Wilson observed. "Cuddy was pretty much over the moon when I saw her just ten minutes ago."

"She is still, for now," House replied cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Wilson was getting worried. "You say that like you expect her to change!"

"I don't know what I was thinking," House didn't really pay attention to Wilson and his words. "What made me think that I can be a father? Was I insane? And was Cuddy insane – of course she was. No sane woman would have my child! Nor would she let me have anything to do with her child. But here we are! And the set up is such that there is no way out. How ... What made me think that I could give anyone, let alone a child – never mind four of them – the kind of care and love and support they need."

"House, you are not thinking of leaving them?" Wilson barely dared to say his suspicion out loud in fear that saying it might make it true. Surely House wasn't thinking anything of the sort.

"No," House frowned. "Though I'm sure they would all be better off if I did. But no, there is no way I can do that now. I just have to hope that I don't screw them up too badly. I just wish I knew more about parenting."

"I thought you were reading up on it?" Wilson wondered where this sudden self-doubt was all coming from. Was it just cold feet at the reality of bringing the kids home and having to really take on the responsibility for them?

"The books are written by morons," House snorted. "They either recite platitudes that anyone with half a brain should know without saying, or they go all theoretical and explain things with long Latinate words half of which they use wrongly and when you unravel the little they actually do say, it's bullshit."

"House, what is wrong?" Wilson was getting worried. Before House got a chance to answer him – if he even was going to – Wilson saw Foreman make his way to them. Eric had a file in his hand and he didn't look happy.

"Results?" House asked. Foreman nodded and gave the file to House without a word. House read it in silence but when he was done he gave a deep sigh. Then he turned to Aiko: "Little Love? Will you let Uncle Eric take you for a while? Daddy needs to go to MamaLisa and make her cry and I'd rather you weren't there when I do."

Wilson watched shocked and worried as House gave Aiko to Eric. Aiko wasn't completely happy about the exchange, she looked worried, but she complied. Without a word to Wilson House got out of his chair and went to find Cuddy on the other side of the glass wall. Foreman refused to say a word either so all Wilson could do was watch how House asked the others to leave him alone with Lisa and then he explained something to her in some length. Wilson saw her turn pale and wide-eyed with shock, he saw the tears start in her eyes before House took her in his arms and pressed her head against his shoulder. Wilson turned to Foreman a question in his eyes.

"It's Greer," Foreman told him now that Cuddy had been told. "House noticed something odd about her couple of days ago. He alerted me and we did some tests."

"Is that why Dr Jordan kept the babies here longer than she originally intended?" Wilson asked. It had been nine days since the Trips were born and Helen had originally intended to keep them under observation for a week only.

"I suppose so," Foreman shrugged. "I don't know who House talked to."

"So what is wrong with Greer?" Wilson asked not daring to let himself think of all the things that could be wrong in a newborn.

"She is blind," Foreman stated blandly. "Her optic nerve isn't functioning. She is too young for us to say with certainty what specifically is wrong, but we are ninety-nine percent certain it is permanent. Of course there is a possibility that science may find a cure in time, but other than that, she is permanently blind."

Wilson couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stared at Foreman in shock. After a while he swallowed and then he said: "Do you know why Lisa and Blythe named her Greer?"

"No," Foreman was a little puzzled at Wilson's reaction. "I don't. Nobody has told me."

"I'm not sure they have even told House," Wilson mused. "Lisa told me when she was still fuming about House knowing about the triplets before anyone else. Greer is named after House. Her name and House's name, Gregory, both mean _Watcher_. Greer is Greg Junior. When Lisa said that she wasn't having any juniors she actually was lying."

"Everybody does," Foreman replied automatically. "Watcher... I suppose you could call that cruel irony."

-------------------------

Later that day Cuddy was in the nursery watching her babies sleep for the first time in their new home. She had recovered from the shock a little and once House had told the rest of the House-hold the news about Greer and they all had reacted pretty much the same way: with love, caring and promises of support and help, she did feel better about Greer's future. She would make sure her daughters – all of them – would have a happy childhood, no matter what. And anyone who had a problem with one of them being Japanese and one being blind, would better not let Cuddy catch them, because she would shove their opinion down their throats and let them choke on it! But it still hurt to think all the difficulties Greer would face growing up. And she couldn't help but wonder if something she had done during the pregnancy, or before it, had caused it.

House found Cuddy where he had expected her to be, in the nursery, watching Greer. He came in quietly, the way only he could despite his cane and his limp, and stood next to Cuddy putting his hand on her shoulder: "Don't do this to yourself." He said.

"Do what," Cuddy pretended not to understand.

"Blame yourself," House clarified though he knew it really was unnecessary. "It wasn't the fertility meds; it wasn't the premature labour or your stress and anxiety during your pregnancy. You did nothing wrong. This is God's screw up, not yours."

"I thought you didn't believe in God," Cuddy muttered.

"This is why I don't," House shrugged. "If he can screw up this badly, he isn't God. Or at least not the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving one that I used to hear all those fairytales about as a kid."

"Some say that the adversities we face in life are His way of teaching us lessons," Cuddy didn't really care about having a metaphysical conversation right now, but it was a way to avoid the real subject. "He tests us because he loves us."

"You mean we are his _chosen_ ones?" House sneered mildly at the idea. "Well, if that is the case I'll have to go with Tevje on that one: I wish He'd choose someone else for a change."

"Tevje?" Cuddy stared at him puzzled.

"Fiddler on the Roof, remember," House explained patiently. "The father."

"Oh ... oh, yes, I remember," Cuddy nodded – still not terribly interested, but then House hadn't expected her to be. He was just filling in the silence with normal things so that she would know the world really hadn't ended that morning.

"Trust me Lisa, this really was not your fault in any way," House stated emphatically.

"But you don't really know," Cuddy sniffed a little. "You don't know what caused it, so you cannot know that it isn't my fault."

"I knew you were ovulating without any tests," House pointed out. "I knew you were pregnant, I knew you were having triplets without any tests. I know this, too: this is not your fault."

"You thought Greer was a boy," Cuddy muttered.

"Oh great," House rolled his eyes with exaggeration. "Focus on the one thing I got wrong and ignore all the times I'm right. I think one mistake out of four is better than average."

"But it could be two out of five," Cuddy said in a small voice, though she was starting to believe House, at least in the sense that nobody else was thinking that she had done something wrong.

"It isn't," House declared. "Besides, if we don't know what caused it, it could be my screw up as well. Have you thought about that?"

"How could it be yours?" Cuddy queried. "You weren't the one who was pregnant."

"If it's genetic, it could come from my side of the family tree," House pointed out. "Or it could be a mutation caused by my substance abuse. The point I'm trying to make here is that trying to assign blame is pointless. Nobody did anything on purpose. This just happened and now we deal with it. She is still our beautiful, healthy baby. Yes, she cannot see but half the people I know go about their lives blindly anyway. Compared to them, she will probably see much better, just differently."

"This is probably incredibly insulting of me," Cuddy was worrying her lip almost to the point of drawing blood. "But does that mean that you are staying?"

"Yes," House said firmly. "Yes, that is incredibly insulting; and yes I'm staying; and yes I know you are sorry; and yes I know you really needed to hear me say it clearly."

"Thank you," Cuddy sniffed. "Especially for understanding. I don't really doubt you; I've seen you with Aiko and my heart does not doubt you. It's just my mind that keeps telling me that this situation would be too much for anyone! That even I would run if I could."

"So would I," House shrugged. "But like you, I can't. Sure the kids would probably be better off with some other Dad, especially Greer, but I'm the only one around, so that's it. They are stuck with me."

"You're a great Dad," Cuddy kept on fighting her tears, though not very successfully. "You are wonderful with Aiko. And you are especially the Dad Greer will need, because you're the only one I know who can teach her to see differently."

"Thanks for the peptalk," House sighed. "I still don't quite believe it, but I suppose we'll muddle through. At least we'll have help; I'm sure both Mother and Akira will keep an eye on us and Kasumii has had training in taking care of children with special needs."

"Maybe she'll inherit your musical talent," Cuddy mused touching Greer gently on the cheek. "She could be a concert pianist or something."

"No!" House avowed. "You will not steer her into any of the traditional _blind_ careers. Nobody will. She will be whatever she wants to be. She will do whatever she wants to do. Yes, she probably can't do everything quite the way she would want to do them, but she will find out her own limitations herself. Anyone who tries to make her something they think she ought to be will have a very short and painful encounter with my cane. If music turns out to be her _thing_, fine, we'll support her and do everything we can to help her career but if she wants to be something else, then we support her there, too. Her blindness will not be **the** defining factor in her life. Yeah, ok, if she wants to be a doctor surgery is probably out of the question, but that's about it. As I know very well, you don't really need to see the patients to be able to diagnose them. In fact, it's a lot less boring when you don't."

By the time House had finished his tirade Cuddy was smiling – albeit still with tears in he eyes. She lifted her hand to caress his cheek briefly and as she did it she said: "Yes, Daddy."

"What?" House looked at her suspiciously. He wasn't sure why she was looking at him like that.

"You are already proving that you are the Daddy Greer needs," Cuddy explained. "You will fight for her and her rights like nobody else. You're not planning on shielding her from the world or finding her a safe niche doing things that society accepts as _blind_ things – as I've seen many parents do in similar situation. You already see her as a fighter; as a person who will make her mark in this world on her own terms. And that is what she needs from you: your love and belief in her. You are the Daddy she needs; you are the Daddy all our children need."

"Yeah, well," House wasn't quite comfortable with the almost adoring light in Cuddy's eyes, nor with the praise. He was much more familiar with the yelling, outraged Cuddy, but he supposed he would have to adjust to _other_ Cuddys, too, now that they were co-parents. "Anyway, that is the theory. I'm not so sure how good I am in putting it all into practise."

"We'll figure it out," Cuddy was suddenly feeling much surer of herself and House as parents. "As you said, we will have help. And we are doctors; we're used to figuring things out."

"I suppose," House conceded. "I'm not sure how good we will be, but I suppose kids have survived worse parents than us."

"Hey, the humanity has survived all this time though all parents are first-timers when they start," Cuddy reminded him. "At least we are old enough to know something and – unlike many other parents today – we do have help. And you have no idea how happy I am that your Mother divorced your Dad and is living with us now!"

"That makes two of us at least," House agreed. "And I'm pretty sure Mom is happy about it, too."

"Right," Cuddy sighed. "I think I'm ok now. I suppose everyone is in the kitchen again?"

"As usual for this time of the day," House confirmed.

"I'll just turn the baby monitor on and then we can join them," Cuddy said. "I'm ok now."

"Sure?" House asked.

"Sure," Cuddy stated. "Thanks to you."

"That's my girl," House approved as he checked that the babies were still asleep and then turned to lead the way towards the kitchen.


	33. Family

_Thank you for the reviews, I'm glad nobody wanted my head for making Greer blind (unlike__ the time when I made Aiko sick in the previous story!)._

-----------------------------------

Foreman was sitting outside on the backyard terrace of the house staring ahead morosely. Chase and Cameron found him there as they came out of the kitchen where the rest of the House-hold was waiting for House and Cuddy. Cameron had a mug of coffee for Foreman as well as for herself. Chase was drinking ice tea.

"Are you ok?" Cameron asked.

"I suppose," Foreman sighed. "Though I would much rather have been in Chase's shoes, fainting and all, than in mine. I kept hoping to the very end that I would find something, anything that would indicate that we could fix it. I hate giving bad news to people, - well I suppose we all do -, but telling House that his daughter is blind. I would have given anything not to have been the one, even though he already knew. Thank God he wanted to tell Cuddy himself."

"No wonder you have been so glum for the last couple of days," Chase noted. "Given a choice I would not trade with you for anything."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Cameron wanted to know. "Not that the results would have been any different, but we could have helped. You wouldn't have been alone."

"House told me not to," Foreman stated simply. "Had he not needed help with the tests, he wouldn't have told me either. He didn't think it would have been fair that half the hospital knows before he could tell Cuddy."

"Makes sense," Chase agreed. "I sure wouldn't like to be the last one to know if it was my kid."

"I agree," Cameron said. "I think I'd be rather pissed at not being told from the start. House really should have brought Cuddy in the moment he suspected something."

"He said he didn't want to stress her unnecessarily," Foreman shrugged. "It might have turned out to be something fixable and it would have softened the blow. I think that had it taken us longer to be sure, he would have told her soon, anyway. Besides, had we needed Greer to stay in the hospital longer, he would have needed to tell Cuddy why."

"He has been awfully assertive lately," Cameron mused. "He doesn't usually take charge this readily."

"You say that like he hasn't bossed us around mercilessly for the last three years," Chase snorted.

"When Cuddy manages to force him to take on a patient, yes," Cameron pointed out. "The rest of the time he prefers to mind his own business and let others go on with their lives the best they can. I think it's nice to know that when things matter, when it's a question of his own family, he doesn't hesitate."

"For now," Foreman inserted. "He is still interested enough to do it. And I suppose it has some novelty value as well. I just hope that he sticks around long enough for Cuddy to recover from everything."

"You are still expecting him to leave her?" Cameron stared at Foreman. "Even I don't do that anymore! Yeah, I don't know if they are lovers or not, or if whatever it is between them will last, but I do know that he is not going to skip town and leave Cuddy alone with the children. Not gonna happen."

"But then, you see him through rose-coloured spectacles," Foreman sneered.

"What does the man have to do to get you to trust him?" Chase wondered. "He has changed his life to accommodate Cuddy and the kids; he has bought a house and brought his Mother and Aiko's Grandfather in to live with them. He has hired a trained Nanny and even lets the Nanny's boyfriend move in to keep everybody happy. For nearly a year, or at least the better part of it, he has been a dedicated and loving even if somewhat unconventional Daddy to Aiko. He was there for Cuddy all through her pregnancy even during the delivery. Not even once has he shown any signs of wanting things to go back the way they were."

"No?" Foreman asked. "Remember the Ruth Rawls episode?"

"That had nothing to do with his children," Chase insisted. "Yeah, he might have handled that differently, but if he and Cuddy aren't having an affair or anything like that, he is free to seek other company, even one night stands; though I think, given what happened last time, he won't be doing that in a hurry again."

"I still don't think he will stay the duration," Foreman was convinced. "It's eighteen years at least!"

"Why not?" Cameron wondered. "He likes the hospital; he gets to do his thing the way he wants which would not be the case anywhere else. He has roots here, now. Friends, family, a house as Chase said. Where would he go? Why would he go?"

"He cannot stand responsibility," Foreman tried to explain. He couldn't understand how the other two could be so blind. "He hates ties. Friends and family - has he ever cared about them? He may have changed his life, but he hasn't changed himself. When he gets tired of faking it, he'll be gone."

"You know what your problem is Foreman," Chase was starting to get angry. "It's not that you are afraid of turning into House. You're afraid of him turning into you! Just because you bailed out on your family does not mean that he will bail out on his."

"I don't have family," Foreman tried to laugh incredulously. "I have no kids, no wife or whatever Dr Cuddy is to him. I haven't bailed out on anyone."

"No?" Chase sneered. "Not even your parents?"

"I see my parents when I can," Foreman insisted getting angry. "And talking of them, where's House's Dad?"

"Right where he deserves to be," Cameron inserted. "I don't know when the rift between them started or what caused it, but I'm sure it wasn't House's fault. You've met the man! The way he treated Aiko is more than enough to tell me all I want to know about him."

"Besides, Blythe House doesn't seem like a woman who would leave her husband without a very good reason," Chase pointed out. "I'm sure that whatever John House got, John House deserved. Can you say the same about your Dad, Foreman?"

"My mother got ill," Foreman ground through his teeth. "She didn't deserve it. Nor does my Dad. But they are married and Dad does not take his commitments lightly. What should he do in your opinion? Put Mom into a home and go merrily on with his own life?"

"Why not?" Chase shrugged. "That's what you have done. I mean, yeah, the home is her own home and her _nurse_ is her husband but those are mere details. You call when you remember, you send money when you can but you don't visit unless you Dad pretty much forces you to meet her."

"You don't understand," Foreman stared at Chase with almost murder in his eyes. "She doesn't even know who I am when I call. I need to tell her who I am pretty much every time, and even then she doesn't always understand what I'm saying. Visiting would just be too confusing for her."

"Really?" Chase scorned. "You think she remembers who your Dad is any better? Just because he is around every day? You don't think that every morning he doesn't need to tell her who he is; even who **she** is? You think it gets any easier because you do it everyday? You don't think he would need a break from that just once in a while? That he wouldn't appreciate someone else taking care of her for just a day every now and then?"

"That's why I send him money," Foreman explained. "So that he can hire someone."

"I'm sure he feels real comfortable about leaving her with strangers," Chase replied snidely.

"Hey, guys, easy! Stop before you say something you'll regret," Cameron tried to stop the fight but the men didn't pay any attention to her.

"I'm a stranger to her!" Foreman yelled.

"She may not remember you, but you are not a stranger," Chase told him. "You are her son; and the main point is that your Dad knows that."

"You don't understand," Foreman repeated. "You have no idea what it's like to have your own parent not know who you are."

"No?" Chase sneered. "I spent half my childhood with a mother so stoned out with booze that half the time she didn't know where she was let alone who either one of us was. But did I bail out on her?"

"Oh!" Cameron gasped – again only to be ignored.

"That is different," Foreman tried to insist. "Besides I don't even know why we are talking about this. How do our experiences make any difference to what House will do?"

"They don't," Chase agreed. "But then the conversation was actually about why you don't want to see him for what he is, not about what he will do."

"Well, you have your opinion and I have mine," Foreman shrugged. "Time will tell who is right."

Chase stared at Foreman tightly for a second. "You know, you really don't need to worry about turning into House," he said. "There is a fundamental difference between you two that will guarantee it."

"And what might that be," Foreman snorted contemptuously.

"No matter how hard you try; no matter how badly you want to; no matter what you do: deep down you don't really care," Chase asserted. "While House, no matter how badly he wants it and how hard he tries, cannot **not** care."

"Oh yeah, he is a regular Mr. Caring!" Foreman scored. "Half the time he doesn't even know **who** his patient is. Really caring."

"Yes," Chase insisted. "It doesn't matter to him who the patient is. The quality of his mercy does not depend on that. The patient can be young, old, man, woman, rich, poor, nun or felon; that does not matter to him. No matter who you are, if he takes you on, he will put you first. Nothing matters but the patient."

"He doesn't care about the patient," Foreman announced. "You're a fool if you think that! All he cares about is the puzzle, and being right. Once he has solved the puzzle, he couldn't care less about the patient."

"I've seen differently," Chase said quietly. "And so have you, unless you have wilfully closed your eyes, which I rather think you have done because that is the only way you can justify yourself. You know you have done wrong, you know you have practically abandoned your family, but as long as you can tell yourself that at least you're not as bad as House, you don't need to face all that. The problem is that you don't see House as he is; you see him as you want to see him."

"Are you sure you're not the one who sees him as you want and not as he is?" Foreman barked at Chase. "He is an arrogant bastard who does not care about anyone but himself."

"What? Is there trouble in Paradise?" Suddenly they heard House's voice from the doorway leading to the kitchen. "Are my little ducklings fighting?"

"It's nothing," Chase dismissed the argument. "Just a difference of opinion. Not the first time with us."

"I'm sure it's a regular thing," House humoured him. "That's why Cameron seems to be on the verge of tears."

"Am not!" Cameron denied hotly – though in fact she had been feeling like crying with frustration.

"Anyway, that's neither here nor there," House set aside the matter. "I got a call from the hospital. Cameron, Chase, get ready to come with me. We have a case."

"About time," Foreman announced standing up.

"Not you, Foreman," House told him.

"What?" Foreman stared at him. "Are you punishing me for voicing my opinion? Is this what I get for not liking you?"

"If I had heard your opinion, I might, of course, punish you for it," House mused. "But I didn't. As for you not liking me, you never have so for me to start holding it against you now, seems a little pointless. And since when have I needed a reason to make your life miserable?"

"He has a point," Chase observed from the sidelines.

"If what you say is true, then why am I excluded from the case?" Foreman wanted to know.

"Because it would be ethically wrong to have you in it," House replied.

"That didn't really answer my question," Foreman insisted. "Why would it be wrong?"

"Because the patient's name is Marcus Foreman," House dropped his bomb stunning his ducklings into silence.


	34. Damage assessment

_Correction to the previous chapter: Foreman's brother is Marcus, not Martin – in case you read it before I corrected it. Thanks for your reviews again :)._

--------------

"We shouldn't have left him," Cameron hissed at Chase trying to make sure House couldn't hear her. "He must be so upset over this!"

"Serves him right," Chase answered in his normal voice. He didn't care if his voice carried to House's office or not. "Teaches him to be so _holier than thou_ about family. And I don't think he is so much upset over his brother being ill as he is over him being here, in PPTH."

"Chase! It's his brother," Cameron insisted.

"Yeah, and did you even know he had one until now?" Chase queried.

"Well, no, not really," Cameron shrugged. "I think I had a general idea that he wasn't an only child and that there was a brother, at least, but I didn't know his name or anything. But that is beside the point. Just because he hasn't been very forthcoming about his family, does not mean he doesn't care about them."

"True, that doesn't," Chase admitted. "But the way he reacted to House's words, does. He was angry, not worried. He clearly did not want his brother anywhere near him and he was upset that now everyone at the hospital would know that he has a brother in prison."

"But that's not his fault," Cameron was indignant. "So his brother has made some bad choices; so what. It has nothing to do with Foreman. He turned his life around and is now a respectable and respected doctor."

"Even so, he is not comfortable having the not so respectable side of his family so close by," Chase observed.

"Ok, I get it, you're not in the least sympathetic towards him, but I still think we should have brought him with us," Cameron wouldn't let go. "Even if he can't take part in the differential he could have visited his brother find out why he is here. House wasn't exactly a fountain of information!"

"That's because I didn't have any information," House inserted from the doorway. He limped in with Marcus' file he had been reading in his office. "Though Eric wasn't exactly pestering me with a lot of questions, either. I wonder why that was? I almost got the impression that he didn't really care. But that could be just me."

"And me," Chase muttered as he reached for the file House had flung on the table.

"He was upset," Cameron maintained. "You totally ambushed him with the information that his brother was in the hospital."

"So I did," House smiled. "And wasn't his face something!"

"Can't you show any sympathy?" Cameron huffed. "His brother could be dying!"

"We are all dying," House observed dryly. "Some are just doing it faster than others. Of course, if Marcus is dying really fast, I have to make sure to tell Foreman so that he can have his warm and fuzzy moment with his dying brother."

"That is a horrible thing to say!" Cameron accused.

"Maybe," House didn't really sound like he cared. "When he thought I was dying, he felt the need to tell me that he likes me, to have the obligatory, conventional, expected reconciliation scene with the dying man. He needed it to feel better about himself. That I didn't want it – and I would not have wanted it even if I actually had been dying – didn't matter to him. He did what is _expected._ And if Marcus is dying he will do the same with him, though he hates his brother almost as much as he hates me."

"I wouldn't say he hates you," Chase protested.

"No?" House raised his eyebrow at Chase. "I quite thought that was what your argument with him was all about today."

"There is a difference in hating someone and not liking him," Chase pointed out. "He finds you annoying and he may even hate the kind of human being he thinks you are, but that is not the same as hating you."

"You're splitting hairs," House said patronisingly. "But if it makes you happy, be my guest. Though I do notice you are not denying that he hates his brother. But don't let that interfere with the diagnosis. Not that we will have a lot of diagnosing to do with this case. More like damage assessment."

"What do you mean?" Cameron wanted to know as she pulled the file from Chase's hands ("Hey! I was reading that!").

"He has used pretty much every drug there is out there," House explained. "Plenty of fighting; he's been shot twice, several knife wounds, lots of breaks and bruises, a few concussions... Rough life all in all."

"So what do we do?" Chase asked.

"Get as much information as possible," House shrugged. "I want to see what his brains, his heart, his liver and kidneys look like. Not very hot, I should imagine."

"Why did they send him here," Chase asked. "I mean why is he not in the sick ward in the prison?"

"Because they suspect something is wrong with his brain and they don't have the equipment to test for it there," House said.

"What were his symptoms then?" Cameron asked.

"According to the report he has always been aggressive and almost always right in the middle of every fight, but usually there has been a reason no matter how small," House described. "Now he was having fits of rage without any apparent reason. He has also had episodes of confusion, short memory loss and absent seizures."

"Right, we'll do whatever tests we can think of," Chase shrugged and got up.

"Schedule an MRI for his brain," House instructed.

"Doesn't he have tattoos that would cause problems?" Cameron asked. "Prison tattoos are often magnetic."

"I doubt he has any on his head," House mused. "And if he has, tell him to bite the bullet and suffer like a man."

"You said he is aggressive..." Chase suddenly remembered.

"He has a guard with him and you have my permission to sedate him as long as it doesn't interfere with the results," House threw over his shoulder as he limped back into his office.

"Why were we called in," Cameron called after him before he quite made it into his office. "This does not look like a case you'd normally be interested in. There really isn't any indication of a puzzle of any sort."

"There is a court order that says we have to take him," House sighed. "This hospital, I mean, not us specifically. Sheridan was all for assigning him to another doctor, but Miss Hill told him to ask me first as I have no other patients right now. It's more than likely that there will be no medical puzzle to solve, but I'm more interested in the fact that he is Foreman's brother. Eric's reactions are most entertaining." With that House closed his door.

"You know," Chase pondered. "I'm beginning to see why Foreman can't really stand him some of the time."

--------------------------------------------------------

Once Chase and Cameron had left to get the tests House dialled a number on his phone. Once it was picked up in the other end he identified himself.

"Mr Foreman, This is Dr House."

"Dr House! Is something wrong with my son?" Foreman's father asked worried.

"Eric is fine," House replied. "It's your other son, Marcus, that I'm calling about. He has just been brought in and I'm his doctor. He is not in any imminent danger, so no need for alarm, but his general condition is not very good."

"He has been in fights again then?" Rodney Foreman sighed.

"I understand that that is normal for him, but it is not what brought him in this time," House explained. "He is having periods of disorientation, memory loss and other indications that not everything is quite right in his brains. Of course it's possible that we are dealing with an old injury sustained in a fight, but as yet I don't know enough. We haven't had time to run any tests yet."

"I better come over there, then, if my son needs me," Rodney Foreman concluded.

"Right now I think your wife needs you more than your son," House told him. "I will keep you posted and once I know more I will be able to tell you when and if you are needed here. I will make sure that he has a phone in his room so that you can call him. Given his situation he won't be able to call you and the calls needs to be screened, but I'm sure you don't mind?"

"I know he has done wrong," Rodney sighed. "He did not go into prison for no reason. So whatever they need to do they need to do. But he is still my son. I appreciate your call and I will take your advice. I will call my son when I can."

"Good," House prepared to end the call.

"Is Eric with him now?" Rodney asked before House could hang up.

"Right now?" House stalled for time a little. "No, not right now. My team is doing tests on Marcus and as Eric is a close relative he cannot be part of that. So right now he is not with Marcus."

"Thank you, Dr House," Rodney uttered. "But there is no need to cover for my son. I know Eric very well. I love him dearly, but I know he is not a very forgiving man. Not to others, not even to himself."

"I may have noticed something like that in him," House appreciated.

"I suppose he takes after me in that," Rodney mused sadly.

"Really?" House was surprised. "I would have thought you were very good at forgiving."

"I'm not so sure," Rodney doubted. "I'm better at resignation. It may seem like the same thing, but it isn't. I've prayed about it, but ... Well, never mind that. I'm sure you are not really interested in that. I will let you get back to your work. Thank you, Dr House, for calling me."

"Part of the job," House lied shamelessly. "I'm sure Eric will be in touch with you soon, too. Good night." He hung up. As he looked up from the phone he saw Miss Hill at the door.

"You called Foreman's father yourself?" Anna wondered.

"He's a good man," House shrugged. "And as Cuddy isn't here to do the calling, I though I'd do it. I've met him and this kinds of news comes better from someone you know - and he seems to trust me."

"I would have thought Eric would have been the natural choice to call his father," Anna suggested.

"I'm sure he will," House agreed. "I'm just not sure when he gets round to it. He has issues right now."

"Eric Foreman has the potential to be a very good doctor and a very good human being," Anna stated. "If he can only dig his head out of his own ass."

"Ooo," House smiled. "That was pretty hard ass-essment of the man! Mind you, I don't care about his humanity, but I do agree with you on the _good doctor_ part of your opinion. He is still too conscious about appearances, about how others see him and his actions, to be all he can be as a doctor. His ambitions and insecurities still cloud his judgement some of the time."

"I think he does know that," Anna pronounced. "That is why he is sometimes so angry at you. You make him conscious of it."

"I suppose," House nodded. "And now that his brother is here, we can expect a lot more of his insecurities to surface and he'll be even angrier than before."

"Well, if he thinks he can take his anger out on me, he will have another thought coming," Anna declared. "But enough of him. I wanted to know how Lisa is doing?"

"Better," House told her. "A little sad still, but at least I managed to convince her that it wasn't her fault. And also that we are not alone in this - thankfully."

"And how are you doing?" Anna queried.

"Wondering what the Hell I was thinking at the time to see it as a good idea to give Cuddy her kid," House sighed with feeling. "But here we are and we better make the best of it we can."

"I don't have children," Anna stated the obvious. "So I'm really not an expert, but from what I have seen of you and Lisa and when I compare that to other families I know and other people who have children, I think you will do just fine." With that she left House alone in his office - a little stunned at this endorsement from the _dragon_.


	35. The Apple of His Eye

"Green Apple? You're sure?" House asked Aiko who nodded, like she understood the question – and she probably did since House was doing the asking. "Green Apple it is then. Mind you, you were right about the Citrus and the Peach too so good job Little Love."

House was standing at the changing table in the green nursery with Greer on a towel on the table and Aiko in a bouncer next to them. Greer had just had her bath and House was getting ready to spread scented oil on her – which he had already done for Ben and Priya. Aiko had been with him all the time choosing the scents for each of her new siblings (citrus for Ben and peach for Priya). House divided his attention between Aiko and the baby, talking to both, asking Aiko's opinion on things. Aiko was still a little dubious about these new additions to her family, especially as they seemed to need a lot of attention and care from the rest of her family, but House insisted that even during this one day that the triplets had been home, Aiko was already getting used to them. Though she did seem a little disconcerted about Cuddy's tummy which was much smaller now and no longer moving!

Once House had finished oiling Greer (and singing to her, and testing her reflexes) he turned to Aiko, put some oil on her hand and helped her rub it on Greer's shoulder, like she had done with Ben and Priya, too, to _finish the job_, as House explained.

"There, now she's all done," House approved. "Don't you think so too, Greer? Do you like the scent your sister picked for you? I hope so, because you're going to smell like that tomorrow too. Now, all we need to do is to wrap you up in a nice warm package and then we can return you to MamaLisa. How's that for a plan? Ok with you, too Aiko?"

House put the diaper on Greer and got her ready for the night otherwise too and once he was done, he sat down in his wheelchair, wrapped Aiko against him first and then Greer and then he wheeled himself into the yellow room, which was where the triplets were sleeping for now. Cuddy was there with Kasumii seeing to Ben and Priya. They hadn't quite got the routine down, yet, but they didn't worry about it too much, as Kasumii expected it to take at least a week anyway.

"Here we are," House announced as he wheeled himself in. "All nice and scented and ready for bed."

"All of you?" Cuddy smiled.

"If that was an invitation, I'm game," House shot back.

"You know perfectly well that it was nothing of the sort," Cuddy glared at him. "Apart from the fact that it's only nine days since I gave birth, I'm also not insane."

"Aww, that was harsh," House pouted. "Oh, did I mention that I'm taking Aiko to work tomorrow?"

"No," Cuddy turned to frown at him. "You didn't. Why?"

"Apart from the fact that she needs some quality time with me to recover from the arrival of her siblings," House mimicked Cuddy's tone a little. "I need her for the interviews as well."

"Oh, yes, it's tomorrow," Cuddy remembered. "How is your team reacting to you bringing in a new fellow? I didn't have time to talk about that today, not with everything..."

"You know, I think I may have forgotten to mention it to them," House mused innocently.

"What!" Cuddy did a pretty good job of yelling at him without raising her voice – she couldn't as they were with the kids. "You're going to ambush them with it? What are you doing? They will think you're trying to hurry them along. That you want them to leave as soon as possible."

"Well, not as soon as possible," House shrugged. "But I told them three months ago that I would push them out in six. They haven't done anything to indicate that they are making any plans of their own so I need to remind them that they only have three months left."

"You know I was wondering why it was so easy to get you to start on the interviews this time," Cuddy glared at him. "I just never realised that you did it only to screw with your current team! Are you forgetting that they are important to Aiko and the Trips?"

"No, I'm not forgetting that," House said. "But I'm also remembering that they have lives of their own as well! They need to start thinking about their careers, about what they really do want to do for the rest of their lives. I'm not kicking them out of the family. I'm just pushing them into fulfilling their own potential."

"Was that what you were doing to Eric, too, today?" Cuddy demanded.

"Now don't go giving me god-like powers again," House accused. "I had nothing to do with Marcus Foreman becoming a patient of ours. Well, apart from accepting him as my patient, but I didn't do anything to make him ill or to make the prison send him to us."

"I know that," Cuddy stated. "And I wouldn't have expected you to let anyone else take him, not when he is Eric's brother; you wouldn't trust anyone else with him. I'm talking about the way you told Eric about it and the way you just left him out of the team."

"He cannot be his brother's doctor!" House pointed out. "That would be most unethical, and I thought you were all for ethics."

"I am," Cuddy admitted. "You, however, are not. Look, the kids are settling down, give Aiko to Kasumii and we will take this conversation downstairs. I'm sure your mother has a word or two to say to you about your behaviour."

"Mother would not dream of telling me how to do my job," House announced huffily, knowing full well that that was not the real issue Cuddy was talking about. However, he did comply with Cuddy's request and gave Aiko to Kasumii to follow Cuddy downstairs – without his wheelchair, which he left into the nursery.

Blythe was in the kitchen drinking tea with Dr Higa and Grey but when Cuddy and House got there she told them to take their argument to another room. She did tell House that she hoped he knew what he was doing with Eric, but other than that, she had no comment. As instructed Cuddy and House took themselves into the living room to continue their discussion.

"See, I told you Mom wouldn't interfere," House gloated.

"Just because she is still reserving her judgement about your actions does not mean she won't interfere at a later date if she thinks it's merited," Cuddy insisted. "But that is beside the point. What I want to talk about now is what I think of your behaviour. Why did you leave Eric behind? I know he cannot be in charge of the case when it's his brother, but why are you excluding him entirely? You didn't stay out of it when Aiko was ill and you did all the tests on Greer yourself. Why are you being so unreasonable with Eric? Even if he were unable to contribute to the diagnosis or treatment, at least he would know what is going on and he could be there for his brother."

"I didn't ban him from the sickroom," House pointed out. "He can visit his brother as much as he wants. He had his own car; he could have followed us to the hospital and go to Marcus. But did he?"

"After the way you treated him?" Cuddy defended Foreman. "Did you expect him to?"

"No," House stated. "And that is my point. He didn't even ask if he could. Don't you think that's a little odd? I would have expected the Foreman I know to tell me to go screw myself and then leave to stay by his brother's bedside no matter what I said or ordered. That is, had it been someone he cares about."

"Marcus is his brother!" Cuddy exclaimed. "Of course he cares."

"Actually, I'm sure he does," House admitted. "But in this case things aren't as easy as that. Foreman has a lot of issues about his family, his background even his past that he has never dealt with. Having his brother here, possibly dying means that he needs to deal with at least some of them. And that will not be comfortable."

"But do you need to make it harder for him?" Cuddy demanded.

"I'm not doing that, not really," House prevaricated. "I may push a little, but nothing I do will really make any difference. Foreman needs to deal with this. Even Miss Hill thinks he is not fulfilling his potential because of his issues with his past."

"Anna? She said that about Eric?" Cuddy wondered.

"I believe her opinion was that Foreman needs to get his head out of his ass to become a good doctor and a good human being," House remembered. "I don't really care about that human being part, but he is definitely not fulfilling his potential as a doctor because he is too conscious about what people think of him."

"But people think well of him!" Cuddy was mystified. "He doesn't need to go out of his way to be respected and liked. Sure, not all like him, but then that is the case with most people."

"That's where we come to his background," House explained. "You can take a boy out of the ghetto but you cannot take the ghetto out of the boy. Sure, there are others who have come from the ghetto and it hasn't stopped them. But they have come to terms with their background. Some have left it behind and truly see it as irrelevant, others are proud of it and what they have achieved despite of it, some make it their life project to help others there... you have seen it. But Foreman has not made peace with it yet. He still feels that somehow he has cheated his way out of there and someday someone will catch him on his lie and send him back."

"If that is how he feels, and you know that, why are you always throwing his past into his face?" Cuddy wanted to know. "If it's that difficult for him, why are you turning the knife?"

"To make him see that there is no wound," House decided to play Cuddy's metaphor. "I keep telling him that I know all about him, his past, his present, his deeds – bad and good, but have I ever told him to _go back where he belongs_? Have I ever treated him differently from my Wombat or my Fluffy Bunny?"

"Are you trying to tell me that for three years you have been telling him that the secret is out and nobody cares, but he still hasn't got it?" Cuddy stared.

"Pretty much," House nodded. "But you see, that's where the _having his head up his own ass_ part comes in. So we need bigger ammunition and now we have it. Mind you, even this might not help, but we'll see."

"Ok," Cuddy bit her lip. "I suppose I have to let you try. Just remember: if you break him, you bought him!"

"Hey, that's slavery!" House exclaimed indignantly. "That would be illegal."

"You know very well what I meant," Cuddy said as she turned to go back to the kitchen. "If you break him, you will be responsible for gluing him back together again."

"Right, let's hope he's not Humpty Dumpty then," House muttered a little frustrated, though he had sort of expected this reaction from Cuddy. That was why he had been hoping he didn't need to explain but he had really known that was a vain hope. Now that they were living in the same house he really couldn't escape Cuddy when she really wanted to find him. And since they also needed to understand each other better in general, because if they didn't co-parenting would be even more difficult than it was going to be anyway, he knew he needed to open up more to her now. Well, the kids were worth it. They were worth all the changes he had made and would need to make still. He just hoped he would be able to keep it up. That didn't mean, though, that he couldn't have fun with Eric and his soul-searching. House was grinning when he, too, limped back into to kitchen.

-------------------------------------

Next day Foreman was late for work. Cameron was all concern over it, but Chase just shrugged and said that Foreman needed get over himself. As soon as Foreman did get to work he (with a very short_ I'm fine_ to Cameron) went to the clinic saying that he didn't want to deal with House yet, so when House got to work at his usual time he found only two of his ducklings present. He didn't seem to mind, he just sent them to finish the tests on Marcus Foreman and then he went into his own office with Aiko (who had greeted Chase and Cameron with enthusiasm stalling the lecture that Cameron was obviously burning to give to House).

House was lying on the floor on his back listening to music and playing with Aiko (who currently was sitting on his chest; always a favourite spot with her) when he heard someone say from the door:

"Is this the fearsome Dr House I see before me?"

He looked up and saw John Henry Giles standing tall at the door.

"The one and only," House responded. "I see you have gained full use of your legs now."

"I have," Giles nodded. "And my air."

"So I have heard," House agreed. "In fact, aren't you playing somewhere near here tonight?"

"I am," Giles admitted walking to House's desk and leaning against it while looking down at House and Aiko. "Which is why I'm here. Well, why I'm here is because my manager managed to break her wrist and we came here to get it treated. But in Princeton because I'm playing."

"Broken wrist," House repeated. "Do you want me to look at it?"

"No, thank you," Giles smiled. "It's a simple fracture and Dr Foreman is seeing to it. But I was told to wait outside so I thought I'd take a chance and see if I can find you."

"And gloat about your regained mobility?" House suggested.

"Not gloat," Giles corrected. "Just show you that you were completely right."

"I knew that already," House pointed out without even a shred of modesty.

"I know," Giles responded dryly. "But I have to say that Daddy House took me quite by surprise. This was possibly the last thing I expected to find when I decided to come. Baby-sitting isn't something one would expect you to do, and yet you seem to be natural."

"I don't know about natural," House mused. "But I have learned which is a good thing since I have three more of these at home; though the triplets are only ten days old so I won't be taking them to work with me for a few more weeks yet."

"Your children? Four?" Giles looked stupefied.

"Long story, but the short version is that I inherited Aiko from friends who died in a car crash," House explained. "Then Dr Cuddy needed help in getting pregnant, I offered and that was supposed to be that until we found out that she was expecting triplets and it seemed a little hard to leave her deal with them alone so we made arrangements that allow us to co-parent all the kids."

"It seems like you have your hands full then," Giles noted. "Does that mean that the tickets I was going to offer you for tonight won't be accepted?"

"Were you going to offer them or are you just saying so now that it seems safe?" House queried.

"I am offering them," Giles said seriously. "Do what you want with them. Give them to a friend or sell them on the e-bay. I'd like to see you there, but it's up to you." Giles set the tickets on the desk.

"Thank you," House said. "I'll see if I can make it. Cuddy could use a break and we do have reliable help. We'll see. And if I can't come, I'll probably give the tickets to my mother. She likes you too."

"Fine by me," Giles nodded standing up. "I'll leave you to your, well I don't know if I can say _work_ but whatever it is you are doing."

"I'm waiting for someone to come and interview for a position in my team," House revealed.

"Someone in your team is leaving?" Giles frowned. "Dr Foreman didn't say anything."

"They are all leaving," House stated. "The fellowship is for three years and they have all been with me that long. Of course, they are not all leaving like tomorrow, but I thought it would be beneficial to have at least one of the new team work with the old one for a while so I'm interviewing."

"So your team is busy looking for jobs then," Giles pondered.

"Not terribly busy," House denied. "They are now House-trained so they can pretty much write their own ticket."

"Interesting," Giles said neutrally. "But never mind, I did what I came to do and I'll get out of your hair. Thank you for my legs and my air. If there is anything I can do for you in the future, let me know. I owe you."

"No you don't," House stated. "But I'll still keep it in mind."

"Daddy House," Giles shook his head in wonderment as he walked out. "Who would have thought."


	36. If the shoe fits

House was still lying on the floor, though now Aiko was crawling around him, when his first hopeful candidate walked into his office. Actually she was his only candidate, but she didn't know that.

Doctor Perta Gilmar walked into House's office a little unsure about why she was here again. She had tried for the position once before, two years ago, and had thought that the interview went rather well, only to find out that House had rehired his previous fellow. She presumed that Doctor Cameron had to be an outstanding doctor and had obviously driven a hard bargain – and the interviews had only been a strategy on House's part. She partly resented having been used that way, but then, that was par for the course in hospital politics. You learned to live with them, though you didn't like them. The previous interview rankled a little still, but on the other hand, House was a legend of no mean proportions! If she managed to survive this fellowship – and the current three doctors House had in his team were the first who ever had – she could go anywhere. However, finding the said legend prone on the floor with a baby (about nine months she estimated) crawling all over him was somewhat disconcerting.

"Take a seat," House told her without really looking at her. "Unless you want me to look up your skirt, of course. I have no objections, but some might think it a little unprofessional."

"Thank you," Petra said not batting an eye, ignoring the rest of House's sentence and just reacting to the first part. She sat down in a chair that still allowed her eye contact with House – that is, had House really looked at her.

"So what makes you think I should hire you?" House asked. "Apart from the fact that you grew up with four brothers and think that you can handle me, that is."

That made Petra blink; she hadn't thought that House remembered the previous interview. She didn't let it faze her, though: "I think I'm a good doctor and though I can definitely learn from you, I'm sure I can also contribute to the work you do."

"No you can't," House stated categorically. "Your papers do indicate that you might eventually become a good doctor, but dismiss the thought that your contribution to my work is something a cage full of monkeys couldn't do as well. I think out loud; if I do it without audience they will lock me up in a padded cell. Mind you, there are times when they want to do it anyway. The only use** I **have for fellows is that my tenure depends on them: I need to teach to keep my job."

"If that is the case, why did you interview me two years ago?" Petra wanted to know. "You had two fellows left, why not fill Dr Cameron's place with _a monkey_ and be done with it? Or does your tenure specify the number of fellows you need to have?"

"No, my contract does not do that," House pulled Aiko closer as she was trying to crawl out of reach. "But Dr Cuddy was of the opinion that I needed three fellows and since she is the Head of this hospital and I had just cost a hundred million bucks to her, I didn't feel I was in a position to refuse. So I interviewed. Fortunately I found a way to rehire Dr Cameron, so I was eventually only minimally inconvenienced."

"A hundred million dollars?" Petra gasped. "Dr Cuddy had a choice between you and a hundred million dollars and she chose you? I..."

"Boggles the mind doesn't it?" House agreed. "However, she had already chosen the money and was getting ready to fire me, but then things happened and... Well, anyway, I was not her favourite person for a while there. But then, I rarely am."

"I see," based on their previous meeting Petra had assumed that she could handle House and anything he had to say, but apparently there was more to the man than she had originally assumed. Mind you, the sight of a baby girl treating him as her personal mountain was enough to throw anyone for a loop: the stories that you heard about House made you rather think he ate babies for breakfast.

House noticed the puzzled looks Dr Gilmar was giving Aiko and he smiled inwardly: "So, how are you with babies then?"

"Babies?" Petra couldn't quite see how that was relevant but decided to answer anyway: "I have two nieces and two nephews and I get along with them just fine. They are older now, but I did baby-sit them when they were little."

"Good," House rejoiced and dropped the bomb: "Because I have three more of these at home and once Dr Cuddy's maternity leave runs out the kiddies will be coming to work with me until I'm sure their immune system can handle day care. Of course, Aiko is the one I'm most worried about as she has only just recovered from Blastomycosis, but the triplets were premature so we need to be careful with them as well for a while."

"Are you telling me that baby-sitting will be part of my duties?" Petra frowned.

"If I deem you reliable enough, yes," House stated self-evidently. "We do have a Nanny and we are hiring an assistant to her, but extra help is still needed with four babies. Everybody chips in."

"We?" Petra was getting too confused with this interview that was so different – yet so similar – to the one before that she just asked the first thing that came to her mind.

"Dr Cuddy and I," House informed her. "Dr Cuddy is the mother of my triplets. Aiko, however, is just mine. She is adopted. The rest of the gossip you just have to get from other sources."

"Oh," Petra sighed.

"So are you ready to start tomorrow?" House asked.

"You're hiring me?" Petra gasped.

"That is what _start tomorrow_ usually means," House pronounced clearly. "Try to keep up with me girl."

"Yes, I can start tomorrow," Petra stated deciding to ignore the insults.

"Good," House nodded getting up from the floor though Aiko did protest when she lost her _mountain_. "Wear sensible shoes. Come on, I'll show you to the team." House lifted Aiko into his arms and took a few careful steps with her to the door opening it. "Cameron, come get Aiko!" He called.

Cameron did as House asked giving a curious look to Petra. Once she had Aiko safely in her arms she carried her to the play pen they had in the conference room. House followed her and Petra followed House. Before he could introduce the new doctor to Chase and Cameron, Foreman came back from his clinic duty. As soon as he caught sight of House it was apparent that he hadn't calmed down from the previous day. In fact, he looked even angrier than before.

"You called my father," Foreman accused immediately totally ignoring everyone else in the room.

"No I didn't," House shot back immediately.

"He told me that you did," Foreman growled.

"Oh, you mean your father," House pretended to remember suddenly. "Yeah, I did call him. Horrible of me, I admit, I don't know what I was thinking. Just because his son is my patient is no reason for me to call him."

"You never do!" Foreman nearly yelled. He would have yelled, but he saw Aiko just in time to lower his tone. "And he thinks you are going to keep him posted, too."

"I am," House shrugged. "Is there a problem there?"

"He trusts you!" Foreman hissed. "You never keep your promises, you habitually lie to the patient's family, you ... you... I'm the one who needs to pick up the pieces here!"

"I keep the promises I want to keep," House pointed out. "And since your father does trust me, and will accept my recommendations for your brother's care, I don't need to lie to him. I respect your father Foreman. I will keep him posted."

"You told him that he doesn't need to come here," Foreman accused. "And he just complied!"

"He is taking care of your mother as you well know," House reminded Foreman. "Right now he is not needed here, but if the situation changes I will alert him."

"This is my family you're messing with!" Foreman ground at him through his teeth.

"No, it's not your family I'm messing with," House denied. "Just you. And I seem to be doing a pretty good job. You are not upset because I called your father, you are upset because I didn't tell you I was going to, so that when you finally got round to calling him yourself you found that he already knows and all your carefully worded reasons why he doesn't need to come here right now were wasted because he had already accepted my word for it."

"You... I don't like you," Foreman was so angry that he couldn't even find words to express it – at least not with Aiko in the same room.

"I know," House patronised. "The thought of that keeps me awake at nights."

"I bet," Chase muttered from his seat at the table where he was doing his crosswords.

"Right, now that we have established that, can I possibly introduce you to Dr Petra Gilmar?" House wanted to know.

"Hi, I'm Allison Cameron," Cameron tried to defuse the atmosphere in the room by being polite. "Are you consulting or just visiting?" she asked.

"Gilmar is my new fellow," House gloated. "She is the first one of the new team that will replace you all."

"You're hiring already?" Foreman had only just got his previous anger under control and now this new piece of information nearly set him off again. "We haven't even given you notice yet."

"I didn't think I needed to wait for that since I told you three months ago that you had six months to get your asses out of here," House shrugged. "Now, of course, you only have three months left of that time."

"Are you going to hire the rest of them before we go, too?" Chase asked curiously. "Just thinking that this room could get a bit crowded."

"No, the other two I will find once you are gone," House told him.

"Ok," Chase accepted. "I suppose it makes sense that at least one of them has a chance to benefit from our experiences first. I'm Robert Chase, welcome."

"Thanks," Petra didn't quite know how what else to say. It seemed that her arrival had been a complete surprise to House's fellows, though Dr Chase seemed to accept her presence without a problem.

"Gilmar starts tomorrow but you can show her around right now if you have some interesting test results for me," House announced magnanimously.

"Yeah, I think I do," Chase grimaced. He took a file and gave it to House: "You said to test for anything and everything we can think of. And the MRI was done this morning so those images are there, too."

"Fine, you can go then," House nodded already reading the test results. "Oh, one thing Dr Gilmar, or actually it is two things. Having failed to caution my previous team against it, I've decided not to make the same mistake again. First, no falling in love with me..."

"I'm over you!" Cameron exclaimed.

"But the shoe seems to fit still," House remarked snidely. "And the second thing is: no sleeping with colleagues"

"We stopped doing it," Chase muttered.

"Yeah, and it was the stopping that interfered with your work," House explained. "And it always does stop!"

"I don't think there is any danger that I will break either one of your rules," Petra announced feeling that House had a rather inflated idea of his own attractiveness – even if Dr Cameron had, for some reason, apparently had feelings for him.

"That's what they all say," House mourned. "Of course, Dr Wilson is fair game, if you want. He is between wives right now. And he is a nice Jewish boy – apart from being a serial polygamist, that is."

"Thank you for your advice," Gilmar replied with exaggerated politeness. "I will keep it in mind."

"Do that," House smiled gleefully. "Now shoo, all of you. I have work to do."

Chase and Cameron did leave with Petra to show her around but Foreman refused to leave. He gave House a stubborn stare and said:

"I presume your work is about my brother?"

"True," House admitted. "But you're not his doctor."

"I still have the right to know," Eric insisted.

"Actually, you don't," House pointed out. "Your brother is conscious and capable of making his own decisions so you need his permission to get this information." Eric glared at House like he wanted to strangle him. House relented; he didn't want the younger man to burst a blood vessel or something. "However, since you are a doctor in this hospital, and part of my team you can access this information any time you want regardless, so for me to keep it from you is rather pointless. Not that any of this will make you happy." He gave the results to Foreman.

Foreman read the file and looked at the images: "Early onset Alzheimer's."

"We need to do a few more tests, but yes, that is the logical conclusion," House nodded. "Probably facilitated by those concussions he has suffered and of course his substance abuse."

"And genetics," Foreman pointed out.

"Yes," House agreed. "But without the head trauma and the drugs it would have taken longer to develop."

"So what now?" Suddenly Foreman felt totally drained. He wasn't angry anymore; he felt numb.

"That I will have to talk over with your brother," House pointed out.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Foreman accepted.

"I better go and do it now," House sighed. "Can you stay with Aiko? I don't think I ought to take her with me for this visit."

"No, that would probably not be a good idea," Foreman agreed. "I'll stay with her. And Cameron will probably be back soon as well."

"Good," House nodded and left the room leaving Eric to Aiko's care.


	37. Brother, where art thou

_Thank you__ all for your lovely reviews! My ego is incredibly inflated – a feeling I'd recommend to anyone:)_

_I'm fixing Foreman's age here to be the same as Omar Epps' and I'm also making Marcus the older brother. If that's against canon, then by now I'm pretty AU anyway with this story and the changes the kiddies have caused in House and the rest of them, so I don't really care._

_-------------------------- _

House limped into Marcus' room past the officer standing guard at the door. Marcus was in bed, as was expected since he was handcuffed to it. He looked bored and angry. And a lot like Foreman, only older – more than the three years between them really merited. He looked more like 47 than 37.

"Great! Another whitey! Don't you have any black doctors in this here hospital?" Marcus scorned.

"Yeah, but since we fear they might help you escape, they are not allowed anywhere near you," House told him. "We know how you homies always stick together."

"Hah," Marcus gave a short laugh. "At least you don't try to go all sensitive on me. I haven't seen you before have I? Who the hell are you?"

"I'm actually your doctor, the one in charge," House said. "The ones you've seen so far are just my minions. I'm House."

"House," the name seemed to give Marcus a pause. "My brother's House?"

"That almost sounds like you were talking about a building," House couldn't resist pointing out. "So in that sense, no. But yes, Eric is one of my minions. However, as he is your brother he is not allowed to be involved in your treatment."

"Does that mean he is not allowed to come see me either?" Marcus demanded. "Or is it that you fear he will be sure to help me escape as he is not just **a** brother but really **my** brother?"

"Not as far as I know," House revealed. "But he is having hypocrisy issues."

"He always was a hypocrite," Marcus scorned, but there was hurt under his tone.

"Not really," Hose mused. "He does sometimes fail to see how his actions might not quite match his previous words, but all in all hypocrisy hasn't been his problem. It's more that he fears the appearance of it so much that it sometimes blinds him to the real issue. See, there you are languishing in prison and Eric doesn't write, doesn't come see you, has pretty much written you off as a bad bargain. Then you go and land yourself as a patient in his hospital and he doesn't quite see how he could suddenly start hovering over your fevered brow like there's no tomorrow without looking like a hypocrite."

"And what, in your great, white wisdom do you see he fails to see here?" Marcus asked with heavy sarcasm.

"That bad bargain or not, you're still his brother," House stated. "And he cannot change that, like it or not."

"Bah," Marcus huffed dismissively. "Did you come here to just chat or do you have anything interesting to tell me. Like what's wrong with me."

"I suspect plenty," House observed. "But yes, I do know what is medically wrong with you."

"So, get on with it!" Marcus demanded. "Tell me what it is and then get me out of here. I may not like prison but at least there I can move around more."

"Well, you're not going back for a couple of days, but I'm sure you'll be happy to know that now that I have the diagnosis we can move you to the psych ward. We have nice padded and padlocked rooms there and you can stay in one until we are ready to let you go," House promised.

"If you have the diagnosis, why do I need to stay? Do you need to operate or something?" Marcus wanted to know.

"No, but we need to start specific medication and we need to check that you won't have any immediate adverse reactions to them," House informed him. "You are suffering from Alzheimer's."

Marcus stared at House for a long time letting the word sink in: "Like my mother?"

"Yes, like your mother," House agreed.

"But I'm only 37! It's old people's illness," Marcus insisted.

"In most cases, yes, but there is a variation that affects young people as well," House clarified. "Youngest known case was 29 so you don't even set a record yet. You medical record would suggest that your case has been speeded up by the earlier concussions and your drug habit."

"So you're telling me this is all my own fault?" Marcus accused.

"Well, your lifestyle has definitely contributed to the fact that it's starting this early, but other than that, you had no say in this," House said.

"You know, some of those concussions I got from white cops," Marcus complained – mostly to fill in the silence and avoid thinking.

"Cops can be like that," House shrugged earning an interested look from Marcus.

"Most whiteys want to know what I did to deserve it," Marcus commented.

"Well, I'm not most whiteys and I'm also not quite the favourite person of the cops either," House noted. "It's not that long ago one of them was after me."

"You're a famous doctor," Marcus wondered. "I would have thought you could get away with pretty much anything. Why would he come after you?"

"I forgot a thermometer in an inappropriate place," House confessed.

"What could be _inappropriate _enough to get a cops attention?" Marcus sneered.

"Up his ass," House remarked earning a short laugh from Marcus.

"That I would have liked to have seen," he sighed.

"I must confess, that even with everything that followed it still is a fond memory," House smiled. "Do you think you have stalled enough now? Are you ready to talk about your medical condition?"

"Alzheimer's, huh," Marcus said almost to himself. "So they finally managed to beat some docility into me."

"My guess would be not," House contradicted. "If you're thinking of your mother, her docility is not a result of her illness. Alzheimer's doesn't usually cause personality changes; what it does is that it pares it down to a few basic traits. If your basic character is optimistic, kind, caring and trusting those are the things that guide your reactions to the changes in your life. If, on the other hand, your normal reaction to strangers, to loss of control, to different degrees of confusion is suspicion, aggression and rejection, then those traits are the ones that govern your behaviour. In your case, I suspect you will eventually get violent – unless the head injuries kick in causing a real personality change, but it's more than likely that that would have happened already."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Marcus exclaimed. "My mother has changed. Yes, she was always the peacemaker and boy was she trusting, but even so she is no longer herself!"

"But her basic personality has not changed," House insisted. "That is a different matter, medically speaking, than what has happened to her due to the illness. Alzheimer's does change you because it robs you of huge chunks of your past, your life experiences, all those things that have made you the person you are. It steals your life and, yes, eventually your personality, too. And once all that is gone, it starts to steal everything else as well. It robs your free will, any control you have over yourself, even your bodily functions; it robs you off hope, dignity and eventually all you have left is the ability to breathe – until it takes that as well. And all this it does excruciatingly slowly. Unless fate is merciful and the heart fails before that."

"That's a cruel picture you're painting," Marcus said tightly.

"It's a cruel disease," House answered. "And I don't believe in lying to my patients – well, not once I have diagnosed them. Pretty words and lots of sympathy won't change anything. And you already know quite a lot about this, so it's also a waste of time. Of course, since you're already going to the psych ward you will have a shrink or a therapist come see you and help you deal with this, but I just give the news."

"So, do you think that fate will be merciful to me?" Marcus asked. "Is my heart going to fail?"

"Your heart is regrettably strong," House informed him. "Though there is a chance that your liver might fail at some point. That isn't a very pleasant way to go either, but it is fairly quick."

"Huh," Marcus made an uncertain sound. "Are you telling my father this?"

"I'm telling him that you have Alzheimer's," House nodded. "But I doubt I need to explain more to him."

"He will want to take care of me," Marcus pointed out. "His conscience will demand it."

"He can't," House stated. "And I will make that quite clear. Even if your mother wasn't ill he could not take you home. You will be too dangerous to him if this thing runs the course I'm expecting. Home is no place for you."

"Yeah, I'd probably end up killing him and that would help nobody," Marcus agreed. "But he is a stubborn man. How do I make sure he won't try once I'm too ill to have any say myself?"

"I can ask the hospital lawyer to come and see you," House advised. "You can have him write papers that state clearly what you want done and not done."

"I don't trust lawyers," Marcus muttered.

"Nobody does, but they do have their uses," House agreed. "Besides this is a fairly simple thing and you'll be happy to know that the hospital lawyer is black!"

"Ok, I'll see him," Marcus accepted. "But I won't be seeing any shrinks!"

"Yes you will," House informed him without even a pause. "It's mandatory. You won't have to say anything but see one, you will. I will be back later, not that there is a need, but your father will want to know how you're doing and I might as well indulge him since I have nothing better to do now." House limped to the door. Before he opened it her turned back to say: "I expect Eric to stop by some time soon. I still need him so don't kill him."

"I doubt I'll see him," Marcus growled.

"I really ought to make you bet on your opinion, but that would be like taking candy from a child," House said. "Not that I object, kids should eat more fruit anyway, but still, it would be too easy." With that he limped out.

Outside he saw Eric hovering uncertainly in the corridor. As soon as Eric saw House he said: "Cameron is watching Aiko."

"And you couldn't stand her caring looks and concerned questions and sympathetic advice?" House ventured.

"No, I couldn't," Eric admitted. "It was getting a little heavy in there."

"So you came here, to hover outside your brother's room. You do know that you can go in?" House suggested.

"I'm not sure I want to," Eric glared at him.

"Oh come on, Ewic," House simpered. "He's not heavy, he's your brother!"

Eric turned to glare House straight in the face ready to reply with angry words, but regardless of the flippant tone the cliché had been delivered in Foreman suddenly saw something in the blue eyes staring back at him. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was something serious and understanding and almost expecting. It was something he had no idea what it was but still he felt he recognised it. He couldn't come up with anything to say, because he wasn't sure what House was telling him.

"God, you annoy me sometimes," was all he managed to huff out.

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not god," House queried. "I understand how the error might occur but really, take my word finally: I'm not god." Eric rolled his eyes at House but didn't say anything. House became serious. "Look Eric, you think too much. You know that he has Alzheimer's. And you know it will rob him of the past. You need to let go of it too. No matter what it is. You only have this moment. Right now is all you will ever have with him again. So take it, right now."

Eric stared at House almost rebelliously, but finally he just turned without a word and walked into his brother's room. House watched him close the door and then he nodded with finality.

As House turned to limp back to his office he came across Wilson.

"You'll be happy to know that I have now one more person in my team," House trilled at Wilson. "I hired Hitler."

"Hitler?" Wilson stared at House.

"Dr Petra Gilmar," House clarified and Wilson had a sudden memory of himself escorting a shapely woman doctor out of House's room and turning to exclaim to House _that's our Hitler_.

"Of the shoes?" Wilson wanted to be sure.

"Yes, that's the one," House confirmed.

"But I thought you didn't like her shoes?" Wilson wondered. "What has changed?"

"There is nothing wrong with her shoes," House informed Wilson facetiously. "That is as long as she is filling Foreman's. It was as Cameron's replacement that I didn't like her."

"You are hiring her to replace Foreman?" Wilson asked.

"Yes," House nodded. "I will expect that she will disagree with pretty much everything I say. Mind you, I suspect that I may have got two at the price of one. In a pinch I'm sure she can produce a very creditable moral outrage, too."

"And you will certainly do your best to test that theory," Wilson sighed wondering if he ought to have a word with Dr Gilmar before she was thrown into the lion's den.


	38. Only thing that’s real

_Thanks to **krazefgirl** for her note__ to me on Alzheimer's. I know I bit off a rather big bite when I decided to make Marcus a sufferer. Storywise it's dramatic and all that, but it's a difficult illness to describe. It's a horrible, horrible disease and it takes its victims very differently depending on which parts of the brain is affected; eventually, of course, it destroys the brains completely. I'm no doctor, so my explanations are simplified according to the best of my understanding – which, naturally, can be faulty. For better information visit the web-sites of either The Alzheimer's Foundation of America or Alzheimer's Society (UK). And if you are already only too familiar with this disease through knowing or caring for someone who has it: May God bless you and give you strength. _

------------------------------------------

House limped into the diagnostics room to find Chase and Cameron there with Aiko.

"So did you scare Gilmar away or did you decide to just send her home before she changed her mind?" House asked them on his way to greet Aiko.

"We sent her home," Chase answered. "We figured it would be in our best interest to make sure she came back tomorrow. That way you'll have fresh meat for your grinder and we'll get a moment of peace from your tormenting."

"You know, normally that would have sent you to the clinic to do my hours," House admonished him. "But today I need something from you, so I'll overlook your insolence. Are you and Cameron doing anything special tonight?"

"We haven't done anything together for some time," Chase pointed out. "And I'm not doing anything even separately tonight. Cameron?"

"No, I have no plans," Cameron revealed. "Why?"

"John Henry Giles gave me tickets, or actually they turned out to be VIP passes, to the club he's playing in tonight," House told them. "I'm going to try and persuade Cuddy to come with me but that won't be an easy task. I think I'll need at least three doctors in the house for the night before I'll have even a chance to get her to agree."

"Can she go with you?" Cameron wondered. "I mean, she gave birth only ten days ago and isn't she breastfeeding?"

"She has recovered well, but obviously we will come home the moment she wants to," House decided not to snap at her – Foreman had probably done enough of that already. "And while it's true that the Trips get most of their nourishment from Yummy Mummy, they get it in a bottle. There are three of them you know."

"That should work," Chase nodded. "I'm certainly free to come, and with Wilson and Dr Higa you'll have your doctors even if Cameron cannot make it. And I think you might want to ask Foreman, too. He'll probably appreciate having something else to think about than his brother."

"I can't do that if Cameron is coming," House alleged.

"Why not?!" Cameron asked indignantly.

"Cause he is already hiding from you and your caring," House simpered.

"I just told him that if he needs someone to talk to I'm here," Cameron explained a little huffily.

"We all know that you are _here_ for all of us," House pointed out. "You're almost as bad as Wilson for needing to be needed. Sometimes, you know, you just need to leave people alone. But having said that, tonight I need you to be _there_ for the kiddies. Can you?"

"Yes, I have no plans other than cleaning and I'm certainly willing to postpone that," Cameron promised. "And if you invite Foreman to join us, you can tell him that I promised to devote myself to the _kiddies_ alone, so he won't be bothered by my caring."

"Excellent," House exclaimed as he slowly limped into his office with Aiko crawling (with great determination) by his side. "Get to the house by seven."

----------------------------------

Before entering his brother's room Eric stopped for a deep breath. It had been years and he really didn't know what to expect on the other side of the door. But he could feel House's eyes on his back and he refused to act like a coward, so he opened the door and stepped inside.

"So the Chosen One decided to come and see me after all," Marcus remarked from the bed. His tone was surprisingly mild for the words – though Eric didn't realise it.

"I wish you'd stop calling me that," Eric sighed with exasperation, yet feeling almost at home with the sound of his brother's voice meeting him. Somehow the bad parts of the past didn't matter now, this was Marcus, and this might be one of the last times this really was _Marcus_. "It wasn't that good a joke to start with and it got old real fast even when it was new."

"And what makes you think it was a joke?" Marcus frowned at his brother. "You were _chosen_ from a whole bunch of pupils to have a future. I'm not saying that it wasn't a good thing for you, nor that you didn't make good of the opportunity offered to you, but you were not the only one who deserved a chance, you were just the only one who was offered one."

"What do you mean?" Eric wondered. "They kept telling us all that we need to study to make something of ourselves. Heck, that was the theme of every gathering at school that there was!"

"Yeah, but how many of us were actually singled out?" Marcus reminded him. "How many were lectured individually? How many were given a chance to retake exams? How many were given extra tuition? How many of us did the teachers bother to believe in?"

"You make it sound like I was the teachers pet or something!" Eric stared. "Yeah, they forced me to work, but I wasn't the only one!"

"Actually, you pretty much were," Marcus shook his head at his brother. "I can't believe that you still haven't got it! I can understand that as a teenager you didn't look much beyond appearances. None of us really did. Thinking about others and their motivations are not things teens do much. But you're not a teen now. You've been out of there for years. Surely you have realized things about our school by now!"

"Honestly, Marcus, I have no idea what you're talking about," Eric was quite puzzled. "I always thought you were angry at me for leaving; first for leaving the gang, then not hanging out with you and finally leaving the whole neighbourhood."

"For a smart guy, brother, you have always been singularly unaware of what is going on around you," Marcus smiled patronisingly, almost resembling House for a second there. "I never hated or even resented you; it was all aimed at the teachers and their hypocrisy. Yeah, I know, it was a crappy school, with no money, low salaries for the teachers and they didn't even have all the material they needed for teaching! But they could still have done more! They chose you because you are really smart. They saw that you could be a doctor or a lawyer or something like that and possibly even famous at it. They wanted someone who would make a mark in this world. Someone who would, at some point, give a speech somewhere in public and thank his old school and teachers for giving him a chance to become something. You were chosen to be the sop for their consciences. You were the one they could say _at least we saved him_. You gave them absolution so that they don't need to think of all the kids they failed. Yes, they chose a few others, too, over the years. But they also ignored many they could have helped. And I'm not talking about myself. I don't know what would have helped with me since getting caught for the first time didn't do it."

"You were always so angry," Eric pondered. "Always lashing out and acting before thinking."

"So were you," Marcus reminded him. "We were a lot alike. Still are; though you are now a hot-shot neurologist and have learned better control. Good for you. At least there is someone who made it. ... So, I met your boss. He seems ok. Probably a real bastard, but ok. How did he react to finding out that you have a brother in jail?"

"With glee," Eric summarised. "He knew about you already, as he knew about my juvenile record too."

"I thought that was sealed?" Marcus wondered.

"When House wants something, he usually gets it," Eric informed his brother. "He had a hunch and he followed it until he got what he wanted. It's a good quality when he is solving a medical problem, but when it's aimed at you and something you'd rather keep a secret, it sucks."

"I bet he has reminded you of your past every day ever since you started to work for him," Marcus smiled almost gleefully.

"Yes! About that and about coming from the slums and about being black," Eric ground out from between his teeth. "He takes great delight in abusing me."

Marcus laughed out loud: "Oh, man! You must hate it here." He stopped and sighed. "But still you stay. And I have a sneaking suspicion that you actually like the man, despite his abuse."

"He is a brilliant doctor," Eric admitted. "And somehow he grows on you. Like fungus, I think. And now he has kids and he's letting us – me and the rest of his team – help with taking care of them, and ... I don't know. Suddenly, I have a second family."

"I see," Marcus frowned a little. "Are you forgetting the one you already have? I don't mean me. I got you in trouble the first time, for you to keep your distance now is understandable. But I mean Mom and Dad."

"No, I'm not forgetting," Eric said – not meeting his brother's eyes. "But I have a very demanding job and I don't know what point is there to go home when Mother doesn't even know me anymore. I phone often, but even when I tell her who I am, half way through the call she forgets again. I do send Dad as much money as I can, so at least he doesn't need to worry about that too much."

"You really should visit," Marcus said. "Even if Mom doesn't know you, it would help Dad. I know he says he is fine, but he just says that. It's not really true."

"Everybody lies," Eric repeated. At Marcus' questioning look he explained. "That's what House always says. That's why he never trusts patients or their family. They always lie or leave out something they decide the doctor doesn't need to know."

"And does he lie to the patient?" Marcus wanted to know.

"Often," Eric divulged. "Though once he has the diagnosis, he does tell the truth. And rather bluntly, too."

"Yeah, I know," Marcus reminded Eric. "I sort of have first hand experience of that. He painted a pretty grim picture for me, about my illness. I can then trust that it was true?"

"Unfortunately," Eric granted. "It really is not possible to exaggerate the effects of Alzheimer's."

"He said there won't be any personality changes," Marcus mused. "That I cannot expect to become docile like mother."

"That is highly unlikely," Eric agreed. "And I haven't seen anything in the old injuries either, to suggest that they would cause anything like that. Besides, you have already had episodes of inexplicable rage, so it's more than likely that those will continue. Docility is not going to come to you for a long time yet. Of course, the course this illness takes is different with everyone though the broad lines are same for all. But it destroys the brain, bit by bit, and eventually even the parts that control breathing and the heart. Most people, especially when it's the more common variation starting after the age 65, never get to that part but die of other causes mostly pneumonia, stroke or heart attack. The average time an Alzheimer's patient lives is five to seven years, but anything from one year to 20 is possible."

"And what about meds? I know there is no cure, but does anything slow it down?" Marcus asked.

"There are some drugs that work for some people, but so far there is nothing that works for everyone," Eric didn't see any point in giving false hope. "There is research done on it, and obviously I follow it all pretty keenly, but so far nothing will even stop it let alone cure it. There are couple of drugs that slow it down if taken during the early stages and we are going to try those on you, but since your Alzheimer's probably started this early because of the drugs and head injuries, we have no way of knowing if those drugs work. We will try though and hope for the best."

"Doesn't really seem worth it," Marcus sighed. "I'm not exactly contributing to the good of the society now and with this... well I'm never gonna now, am I?"

"Probably not," Eric had to admit. "But that does not mean you shouldn't get proper care. When you have your parole hearing, they will take your medical condition into consideration. Depending on how far it has advanced by then, there may be time to change something."

"Didn't you just say something about my inexplicable rages?" Marcus pointed out ruefully. "How are those going to fit in with these _changes_ you think might happen?" Eric didn't say anything. "I didn't think so. Look, House said that he will send a lawyer to me to help write some papers that state how I want to be looked after once I'm that far gone. Will you come, too, and help me write them? I need to be sure that neither Dad nor you get saddled with me, if this thing takes me the way Dr House predicted."

"If you really want me to, yes, I'll be there," Eric promised.

"You know, that boss of yours does know things," Marcus suddenly smiled.

"Like what now?" Eric wondered.

"Regardless of the past, or even the present or future, we are brothers," Marcus extended his free hand to Eric who took it – first time for he couldn't even remember in how many years. "That really is the only thing that matters. The only thing that's real in all this."

"Yeah, he just might have got that right," Eric nodded.


	39. First day

As Dr Petra Gilmar walked towards the department of diagnostics she was thinking of the previous day and the grounding she had received from Drs Cameron and Chase. They had told her to be prepared for anything. They had also explained the need for comfortable shoes.

"Once House has a case, you'll be doing a lot of running," Chase had told her. "Being a cripple does not slow him down much. He thinks and speaks on the move and you better keep up with him or you're in trouble. And you better be sure that you hear him but don't trip on the cane."

"Usually we end up running half a step behind him which is why we're known as his ducklings," Cameron had said. "But don't make the mistake of expecting any kind of mothering from him. Well, except where Aiko is concerned."

"I'm not sure I quite understood the situation about the kids," Petra had asked. "He said that Dr Cuddy was the mother of his triplets, but just before that he had also told me that he was almost never Dr Cuddy's _favourite person_?"

"The official version is that Dr Cuddy wanted a child and House agreed to be the biological father," Chase revealed. "They have categorically stated that there was no affair. I, personally, believe that, though I don't believe that they didn't have sex. But nobody knows for sure – except possibly House's mother. As for their current situation, well, they live in the same house but House has a separate flat in it. And nobody living in that house is talking, so your guess about their situation is as good as anybody's."

"And their relationship has always been complicated," Cameron had added. "Dr Cuddy is the only one we know, at least at work, who can make House do things he doesn't want to, or stop him from doing something. We are sure they are friends though they seem to be arguing all the time and the inappropriate remarks House has made about Dr Cuddy's cleavage and behind are pretty much legendary. He has always implied that they are having wild sex in Cuddy's office, but that is the one thing nobody believes. Even those who believe they are having sex believe Dr Cuddy is too professional to do it there. House, of course, would do anything anywhere."

"He can't be as bad as the stories about him imply!" Petra insisted. "He is a world renowned doctor; the cases he has solved... well I don't need to tell you about them. But if any of the stunts he is told to have pulled are true he would surely have been fired no matter how brilliant he is."

"Well, he was fired by at least four deans," Cameron shrugged. "Dr Cuddy is the first one who can put up with him and, as we told you, the only one who has any control over him. But he is brilliant enough to get away with pretty much anything."

"I haven't heard all the stories about him," Chase inserted. "And I'm sure most of them have got it wrong anyway, but I think you can pretty much believe the picture they paint of him even if you don't believe the individual tales. The picture is wrong, too, but it serves for starters until you get to know him."

"Well, the picture those stories paint isn't very credible," Petra pointed out. "I mean, am I supposed to believe that he hit one of you just because you got the diagnosis right when he had been wrong?"

"He didn't hit me for that," Chase exclaimed earning an incredulous look from Petra. "Yeah, ok, I was the one who realised what was wrong with the patient, but that wasn't why he hit me. He was under a lot of stress, in pain and had troubles with the law and all that, and he just wasn't in the mood to listen to me, but I persisted and he got annoyed, and he hit me."

"Did you press charges?" Petra wanted to know.

"Why would I do that?" Chase wondered. "It was no big deal and it wasn't something he was in the habit of doing."

"So he apologized," Petra asked.

"House! Not in this lifetime," Chase laughed. "No, he doesn't really do apologizing. Though I hear he did apologize to Wilson when he was in the rehab. I understand it was mandatory part of the programme. Wilson was in daze for the rest of the day wondering if he should start watching for the four horsemen."

"House doesn't care for social niceties, which is why we do most of the talking to patients and their families," Cameron explained. "He usually does end up actually seeing the patient at some point, but not always and he does try to avoid it to the best of his ability – which is pretty impressive. He also hates doing his clinic duty, so you will do a lot of it in addition to your own hours."

"That's not right," Petra frowned. "If he is supposed to do clinic duty then he should do it."

"He is your boss, you do what he tells you to do," Chase stated dryly. "If you don't and especially if you rat him to Cuddy over something as trivial as clinic duty he can and will make your life hell. Or then he will make you quit."

"But I have rights!" Petra insisted.

"Not if you want to learn from him," Cameron said gently. "He will drive you like you were his personal slave and you will learn more than you ever did before; anywhere. And you learn things you didn't even think you needed to learn."

"And the cases he takes are worth any aggravation he causes you," Chase told her. "These three years have been the most incredible years of my life and though there are parts of it I don't really like to think back to, I still wouldn't change one second of it all. I learned more about myself, about what it is to be a doctor and what medicine is supposed to be all about than I thought even possible. You have to decide, do you want to learn or do you want to stick to your rights. I'm not saying that you don't have any, but you need to decide what is worth fighting for and what is just not worth the hassle."

"And he hasn't been that bad lately," Cameron comforted Petra. "Ever since Aiko came he has been a lot nicer. That still doesn't make him nice, really, but still, much better than he was before. Of course, just before Aiko he had all that trouble with the law and everything so that was a pretty grim period all in all, but you'll have it a little easier than what we were forced to deal with."

Opening the door to the diagnostics conference room Petra wondered how bad this nicer but still not nice Dr House could be. The stories about him were incredible, but apparently the one she had most disbelieved was actually true, so who knew about the rest of them!

She saw that Dr Cameron was already there but the men were not. Dr Cameron was at the coffee maker getting it ready.

"Morning Gilmar," Cameron smiled at her – one of the things Petra had learned the day before was that they all went by their last name, no titles. "Do you drink coffee?"

"Yes," Petra nodded. "Though I do drink tea, too, occasionally."

"Good," Cameron acknowledged. "The next question is then: how are you at making coffee?"

"I'm told that I make good coffee. Why?" Petra wanted to know.

"Because House rarely makes coffee but he expects to have it any time he wants and it better be good," Cameron explained. "And I know, you're not his secretary, you're not supposed to do things like making coffee or sorting his mail, but in the interest of self-preservation make sure there is coffee. And in the interest of the good of the patients sort his mail. He doesn't read any letters, he doesn't answer consultation requests, he absolutely will not go to any conferences nor will he give any speeches. He doesn't even hunt for interesting cases to solve; we need to do it for him. And again in self-preservation we do."

"That doesn't sound right," Petra frowned.

"We had this conversation yesterday," Cameron reminded her. "You'll learn - if you stick around longer than a week that is."

"The fellowship is for three years, I intend to stick around for the duration," Petra stated.

"That may be your intention," Foreman had just walked in through the door with Chase at his heels. "But plenty of others have had the same and we three are the first ones who have actually done it. Right now, the odds on favourite time is one month. Nobody believes that you will stay longer than two."

"They don't have much faith in me do they," Petra huffed.

"It's not that," Chase said. "It's House they have faith in. Though since you were the only one he interviewed I'm inclined to think he wants to keep you. I just wish I knew why. You don't happen to have a criminal record or something?"

"Of course not," Petra was offended. "What a thing to suggest."

"Well, that's why he hired me," Foreman offered. "Of course it was juvenile, but still, that's what he wanted and I had it so here I am."

"But juvenile records are sealed?" Petra frowned totally confused. "Did you write it in your resume?"

"Heck no," Foreman laughed. "No, I tried to keep it a secret, but House found out. He always does. So if you have any secrets, especially ones you don't want House to know, assume he knows. Just to be on the safe side."

"It could be her looks," Chase mused.

"Right, rub it in, will you," Cameron half snapped at him. "I should never have told you."

"But I can perfectly understand House," Chase exclaimed with a wide-eyed look. "Yours is a stunning ass."

"What?" Petra was starting to think she had wandered into the Mad Hatter's tea party and not the most coveted fellowship in the country.

"House doesn't hire people for the normal reasons," Foreman revealed. "Me, I graduated from Hopkins, I have excellent references but he wanted me for my criminal past. Cameron he hired for her looks, though she, too is highly qualified. Chase here got in because his Dad made a phone call. And those are the reasons he gave us. In truth I think that is only half the story, but what the whole story is, is anybody's guess."

"So you don't think I got this place because of my qualifications?" Petra asked.

"It would be highly unlike him," Chase stated. "Anyway, it won't matter, what the reason was. You're in and it's up to you to make the best of the opportunity you have."

"Ok. So where do I start?" Petra decided that her best plan was just to get on with it.

"You wait," Chase smiled. "House will stroll in sometime just before ten or so, now that Cuddy is not around to intercept him in the lobby and force him to the clinic. Most of the time when we have no patients we sit around and wait. If there has been an interesting case we may write about it, or if you want you can do clinic hours. And of course, when things get desperate we try to find a patient for House."

"This is a hospital," Petra was a little puzzled. "I would have thought there are plenty of patients for him."

"But they have to be interesting," Cameron pointed out. "Something he truly believes nobody else can solve."

"He doesn't really want to work, you see," Foreman explained. "He finds clinic duty boring because most cases there are so simple he can diagnose them in five seconds and one look at the patient."

"Nobody can do that!" Petra exclaimed.

"He does," Cameron sighed, "And sometimes he does it in the waiting room in front of everyone just to annoy Cuddy."

"And yeah, you're right, it's a mad house," Foreman correctly interpreted the expression on Petra's face. "And you can put any meaning you want on those words."

"Anyway, the only patient we have now is Marcus and since he has been diagnosed, we wait for the next one," Chase concluded. "And do make use of this time you have, because once we do have a patient, House can call you up three in the morning and expect you to be ready to work."

"Or he can expect you to work all night and then go on all day, too," Cameron added. "But talking about Marcus, are you..."

"Save it Cameron," Foreman stalled her with a raised hand. "Last night was nice because you restrained yourself, could you go on doing it? Please?"

"Fine, if you're sure," Cameron shrugged a little offended, but not much.

"Last night?" Petra was confused.

"We were baby sitting House's kids," Chase explained. "He had VIP passes to see John Henry Giles and he took Cuddy there. But before she agreed to go she needed to be sure that the kids were properly looked after. And it took five doctors, one highly trained Nanny, one physical therapist and one capable grandmother to convince her that she could leave her children for one evening. She is even worse about them than House was with Aiko at the beginning."

"You baby sit his kids?" Petra wondered. "Is that really part of your duties?"

"No, it's a privilege," Foreman said simply. "We are part of Aiko's family – and now the Trips', too. But you will learn, in time. If you stick around."

Petra was even more confused so she decided to take that statement on trust. This seemed to be a lot different place from any other job – medical or other – than she had ever had before. It was a good thing that she was usually pretty good at rolling with the punches.

True to his team's predictions House strolled into his office some time before ten. He stored his bag in there and then he came to get his coffee.

"Foreman," House didn't even turn to look at him. "Did you speak with your father?"

"Yes, he is coming tomorrow," Foreman answered – barely looking up from his journal.

"Good," House nodded. "Now, Wilson told me that he might have a patient for us, he just needs some last test results to be sure its not cancer. So look lively when he gets here."

And with that he limped back into his office. At the door he turned around and pierced Petra with his incredibly blue eyes: "So you made it here, then. Hmmm. Let's see how long you can stand the pace." With that he closed the door and disappeared into his office.


	40. First house

House was pacing the floor in front of the white board giving it highly indignant glances every once in a while.

"Do you know what these symptoms remind me off," he asked his team of four. "They are a lot like that woman... what was her name... that supermom who mixed fertility meds and the pill. And Ritalin, if I remember correctly, but I don't think that is the problem here."

"But Mrs Martin is not on fertility meds though they are trying for a child," Cameron pointed out. "They have only just discussed the possibility. And the symptoms aren't all the same."

"I know, but something is bugging me about this, somebody is lying to me," House growled.

"You always assume that they lie to you," Chase shrugged.

"True, true," House agreed. "And so far I haven't been wrong. But this time I think it's more deliberate than normally. Gilmar, tell me again what her morning routine is?"

"She wakes up around seven when her husband leaves for work and brings her a cup of tea in bed," Petra checked her notes. "Then she gets up about an hour later, makes herself a smoothie with yogurt, fruits and muesli then she goes into her studio to do the illustrations and she stays there till about noon when she will have her lunch."

"Illustrations?" House asked.

"She illustrates children's books," Cameron piped in. "Paints are unlikely to be the cause as she paints with watercolours."

"I'm still not happy here," House insisted. "Ok, do a full body scan."

"You never want full body scans!" Foreman exclaimed. "You say they are useless."

"They are," House nodded. "But Wilson has done pretty much everything else. And in addition to that, a full body scan will keep her out of her room for half an hour at least. Take her husband with you to observe Foreman. Cameron, you search the things she has in her room, don't forget to check the husband's coat and whatever else he has left in there. Chase special attention on the husband but leave no stone unturned, take Gilmar with you. She needs to learn. Right, disperse."

"Disperse where?" Petra asked as she followed Chase out of the room.

"To gather information," Chase smiled at her and she didn't trust that smile at all.

"What kind of information are we going to be able to gather without the patient and her husband?" Petra demanded.

"The kind House wants," Chase laughed as he went to his locker. "It's a good thing you're wearing trousers, but you need to change your shirt to something more suitable for breaking and entering. That material might tear if we need to make a quick exit out of a window or through the shrubbery. If you don't have a t-shirt or something with you take scrubs."

"Breaking and entering!" Petra didn't believe her ears. "Breaking and entering where?"

"We are searching the patient's home," Chase explained. "And since we haven't asked them for the key nor told them that we are doing this, it's breaking and entering. Highly illegal according to one of House's exes who was a lawyer."

"But, but, we can't do that!" Petra stared at Chase like he had lost his mind.

"Well apparently we can since we do this on regular basis," Chase shrugged. "Welcome to medicine a la House."

"But why are we doing it?" Petra had to believe that Chase was serious so she dug her t-shirt from her bag and changed. "I can understand checking for environmental reasons like the water and things like that, but why not get permission from the Martins?"

"Because if they are doing something illegal they will want to accompany us and they will do their best to destroy the evidence," Chase clarified.

"And how often has that happened?" Petra patronised.

"Well, we had one wife who was poisoning her husband with gold," Chase started to itemise. "Then we have had quite a few patients who have used drugs; then we had one who was participating in illegal cockfighting, things like that. Not terribly often, I admit, but still often enough."

"And what do you expect to find this time," Petra was a little more convinced but still doubtful.

"I think that since House specifically mentioned the husband, he suspects that Mr Martin is putting something else than sugar and spice and all things nice into his wife's morning tea," Chase mused. "I hope it's just the pill and not anything more sinister."

"You trust his hunch?" Petra wondered.

"Usually it is the safe thing to do," Chase stated. "That time when the wife was poisoning her husband with gold, House was convinced that she was doing something to her husband long before any of us believed him. She was so devoted and didn't leave his side more than she absolutely had to. But he was right. And he saved the patient."

-------------------------------------

An hour later Petra returned to the hospital with Chase feeling strangely elated after the first illegal act in her life! (Ok, barring a speeding ticket or two, but this was something you couldn't defend as something everybody did.) Chase had been amazing, in her opinion, getting inside through a window that had been left unlocked – the Martin's seriously needed to rethink their security measures – and then letting her in through the door. They had searched the house very effectively - apparently Chase had been telling the truth that this was a regular occurrence. And they had found something that would make House happy. Ok, maybe not happy, but it was definitely something he wanted.

"So?" Was all that House said when they entered his office.

Chase put the box on House's desk and said: "You were right, it's the pill. We found it in the husband's case in his study. He must have added it to her tea every morning."

"Cameron found a little pillbox in his coat pocket," House told them. "The kind you might put a few breath mints into, but it was empty. He goes home every night, so he uses the box to bring the daily dosage to his wife."

"But why is he doing it?" Petra couldn't understand. "If he doesn't want a child, or doesn't want one now, why not just tell his wife? And even if he is too much of a coward to tell her, why is he still dosing her? They are not having sex while she is in the hospital; there is no chance that she will get pregnant now."

"He probably doesn't connect the symptoms his wife is having with the pill," House mused. "So he fears that once we cure her, and he gets her home she will insist on celebration sex and if she hasn't got her drug regularly she might get pregnant then. He seems to be the kind of man who trusts doctors, you know, idiot that he is."

"So what are you going to do now?" Petra wanted to know.

"Confront the husband with the evidence," House said. "There is nothing wrong with the wife that just stopping the pills won't cure. I smell a divorce! What is it, Chase, about us that we so often meet our patients when they are about to get a divorce? And often they don't even know it. Are we jinxed or something?"

"Not all of them get a divorce once they have seen us," Chase reminded him.

"True, some of them are already divorced," House agreed. "But it still shatters my belief in the happily ever after. I'm devastated."

"I bet you are," Chase doubted. "Anything else you need?"

"No," House said. "Except for Gilmar to do my clinic hours for today." He looked expectantly at Petra who remembered Chase's advice from the day before and just accepted the nametag House was extending to her.

--------------------------------------

Later that day Eric went into House's office. Mrs Martin had been informed of her husband's behaviour and once the shouting was over, Mr Martin had left for good – with a very nasty divorce pending. Eric had stayed out of it, but House had observed the proceedings with his usual interest at _these mortals _having their drama. But the puzzle was now solved and House was in his office playing his games. His soap was not on yet, so Eric thought he could have a word with House without too much trouble.

"House, I need a word," Eric said as he entered the office.

"As long as it's a short one," House responded barely looking up from his game.

"My Father called and he wants to bring my Mother with him as he comes," Eric informed House.

"And why do you want to bring that to my attention?" House queried.

"Marcus is already somewhat depressed, which is definitely understandable, but I was wondering if seeing Mother will make it worse?" Eric revealed his worries.

"Highly doubtful," House answered seemingly not even paying attention to the question. "Nothing will make him worse right now. He is still in shock over the news. And thought your Mother is definitely forgetful and probably won't recognise him, from what I've heard she is still essentially herself: kind and caring. That she has lost huge chunks of her past, of your past, is painful. And seeing her so dependent and lacking in some of the things you've used to expect from her will be painful, but I don't see how it could be depressing – even for Marcus. Marcus is still well enough and your Mother is still just well enough for them to say their goodbyes. Neither will, in time, remember it, but your father and you will. And I think that is the really important part."

"You are saying that Dad really should bring Mother with him?" Eric needed reassurance.

"Yes," House sighed a little impatiently. "Have you got them a hotel yet?"

"No, I tried but they didn't have room in any that I liked," Eric was a little thrown at the change of the subject. "I still have a couple places that I haven't called."

"Don't" House told him. "My Mother will never forgive me if I let them stay in a hotel."

"We couldn't impose on you," Eric gasped.

"I think you better, or my life will be unbearable for a much longer time than the few nights your parents are staying in town," House observed dialling a number on his phone. "Mother?"

"_Yes, Greg?"_ Blythe's voice came over the speakerphone that House had switched on.

"Eric's parents are coming to town. They want to see their sons," House explained. "You know the situation, don't you?"

"_Yes, I remember,"_ Blythe replied. "_Is Eric with you now?"_

"You are on the speakerphone," House said. "Yes, Eric is here."

"_How long are your parents staying?_" Blythe asked.

"Two nights is what my father was planning for," Eric informed her.

"_And I presume you haven't yet booked a hotel for them, since Greg would not be phoning me otherwise,"_ Blythe mused. "_Really, you must bring your parents here. We have plenty of room. I can give my flat to them for that time and stay in the downstairs bedroom. You just bring them here and we'll be fine. When are they arriving?"_

"Tomorrow," Eric was almost confused at Blythe's ready acceptance of quests she had never even met. "But really, I cannot just dump them on you. I'm sure you have plenty to do without any strangers in the house as well."

"_Nonsense,"_ Blythe dismissed his concerns. "_I like people. Always have. They are welcome. In fact I will be deeply offended if you take them anywhere else."_

"Well, if you're sure," Eric tentatively agreed.

"_I am,"_ Blythe stated categorically. "_So that is settled and I'll see you tomorrow."_ With that she hung up.

"House, I'm sorry, really," Eric tried to stutter.

""Don't be," House dismissed. "I know my Mom, and trust me when I say that whatever inconvenience your parents might cause, it's still better than the alternative. I just cannot stand to disappoint my mother. Call me weak, but there it is."

"No, I won't call you weak, since I have met your Mother and she is a remarkable woman," Eric smiled. "Thank you. And thank you for talking to my father and explaining Marcus' situation to him and thank you for being there for Marcus, too."

"No need for thanks," House said, truly meaning it, too. "Marcus is my patient. Obviously his well being is of importance to me. He could be anyone."

"I know you want to do your best for your patients, but don't think I don't know that you are treating Marcus differently," Eric told House. "But if you don't want to talk about it, it's ok with me."

"Good, since I don't want to," House stated and turned his music on louder.


	41. What I’ve been hoping for

_Thank you for your reviews! And here is the next chapter. It seems that I'm back to my usual schedule, where I do most of my updating during the week-end. I'll probably update three or four times between Friday night and Sunday evening (my local time). Again, I'm past my 40 chapter mark, which means I'll start winding this story down gradually. It will probably take some ten to fifteen chapters, so no need to panic yet. :)_

_----------------------------------------------_

That night at home House was in the nursery feeding his son from a bottle. Cuddy had Greer and Blythe had taken charge of Priya. Aiko was next room being bathed by her grandfather and Kasumii.

"He's a greedy little bastard isn't he," House laughed looking at Ben eagerly drinking his milk.

"House!" Cuddy admonished him.

"What?" House gave her an innocent stare. "He is, unless you hit me on the head and married me without my knowledge." Cuddy didn't deign to answer him, just gave him a _look_.

"You know, Greg," Blythe smiled at her son. "Not everything you say has to be designed to get a reaction from your audience."

"I know," House shrugged. "But it's fun!"

"It may be now," Cuddy said sternly. "But once the kids start copying you, it won't. You really have to start thinking about what you say in front of them!"

"They're just babies," House insisted. "They won't start repeating me for years yet."

"And it will take you years to clean up your speech!" Cuddy huffed. "You've been saying the first thing that comes to your mind for – what -, thirty odd years. You will not be able to just stop it one night when you decide the kids are old enough to start copying you."

"Lisa does have a point," Blythe gently supported Cuddy. "I know that you try but you know that we have to remind you to keep trying."

"If you know that it will take time for me to learn to curb my tongue," House sighed in exasperation. "Why are you expecting instant results?"

"We're not," Cuddy stated. "But as your Mother said, you won't learn unless we keep reminding you. You told me to treat this house as my home though you own it. Well I'm saying that I don't want that kind of language in my home. I know I keep telling you to be more polite at work, too, and I sure wish you would be, since it would make my life easier. But I accept that at work I can only demand so much from you and clinic duty is a priority. However, at home it's different because here we have to think of the children. I know you cannot change overnight, but I just want you to accept that when you say something we think is bad for the children we will say so."

"Ok, fine, I suppose you have a point. Spoilsports," House agreed grudgingly. "But you still are..." He then whispered to his son earning a long suffering look from both Cuddy and Blythe.

House was just burping his son when Higa walked in carrying Aiko. Kasumii was following them ready to put the trips – one by one – in their cribs. Higa brought Aiko to House who gave her a small kiss on the cheek, but didn't take her yet as his hands were full.

"Hello Little Love," House murmured to his daughter. "Did you have a good bath with your Ojii-san? Did you behave yourself for him?"

"She always behaves," Higa smiled as Aiko explained something to House.

"So she tells me," House agreed. "Kasumii, I think Ben is ready, come and take him. He seems to be asleep already."

"I think you ought to have named him _Speedy_ and not Ben," Kasumii smiled as she took the boy. "He eats quickly, he falls asleep almost instantaneously, he wakes up right the moment he opens his eyes and I have a feeling he will be like that with everything in his life." She took Ben carefully from House and carried him to his crib. House took Aiko from Higa, who sat down near them.

"Hmm, you smell good my little apricot," House nuzzled his nose in Aiko's hair when he hugged her – earning an indulgent (and almost a little envious) looks from the ladies in the room. The kids were the only ones who got House to show his tender side. "So, how was your day?" House asked Aiko. And Aiko explained with a string of words, some of which made sense, like Dada, others didn't, but House nodded and agreed and seemed to understand.

"Yes, I know it was more fun to be with me at work, but now that Kasumii needs to be here for the Trips, I cannot have you at work all the time," House mourned with Aiko. "No, we cannot send your siblings back where they came from. A new visit there and we could end up with even more kids in the house."

"HOUSE!" this time Cuddy really did yell at him, kids or no kids present. Fortunately Ben was sound asleep and Greer and Priya were still intent on their bottles, and Aiko had heard Cuddy yell at her Daddy at work (plenty of times) so as long as it was just yelling she didn't mind.

"What?" House was all innocence. "I didn't use any bad words."

"It's not just HOW you say something," Cuddy gave a **long** suffering sigh. "It's also WHAT you say."

"Really Greg," Blythe was biting her lip to stop a laugh from escaping. "Don't you think Lisa has enough on her plate without you acting up, too?"

"It's good for her to be able to let out some steam," House shrugged. "She can't yell at the kids, after all."

"Oh, so this if for my good that you're behaving like a jerk?" Cuddy asked.

"Isn't _jerk_ a bad word?" House frowned.

"Not when it's your middle name," Cuddy muttered.

"Are you sure you didn't hit Greg on the head and marry him secretly?" Higa asked having watched the argument. "Because you sound very much like an old married couple."

"I'm sure," Cuddy stated. "Because I'm also sure that if I ever ended up hitting him on the head, he would not recover from it, no matter how hard his head is."

"Aren't death threats unsuitable material for the kiddies to hear, too?" House wondered. "Why am I the only one who has to curb his tongue?"

"Could be because you're the only one who has no control over it at all," Kasumii pointed out as she took Priya from Blythe.

"Right, gang up on me you all, will you," House huffed indignantly.

"Not me," Higa laughed. "I'm staying out of this one entirely."

"Some help that is," House grumbled. "But at least I have Aiko on my side. Always!"

House smiled at his daughter who was experimenting with fish-faces again. Then she indicated that she wanted down. House set her on the floor and she remained standing leaning on House's legs. House kept a hold of her hand and she walked herself a few steps to the side and then showed that she wanted her grandfather. Higa extended his arms and took a secure hold of Aiko's hands and helped her make her way to him. Kasumii had just put Greer too in bed and now she took the digital camera they had ready at all times and started filming Aiko. She and Cuddy had agreed that they wanted as much film as possible of House and Aiko – and the trips - together, because without the visual evidence nobody would believe them when they told people what House was like with his kids. In fact they were pretty sure they, too, would think memory was tricking them without some proof.

Once Aiko got to her grandfather she gave him a big smile after which she wanted to turn back to her Daddy. Higa helped her but then she let got of his hands and stood unaided – which she had been doing for a couple of weeks already. Then she called "Dada!" and took a step towards House. The room held its breath – even House, though he had the presence of mind to extend his arms towards Aiko, though not to take hold of her. Aiko gave him a big smile, too, and then she practically run into his arms. He caught her and lifted her up laughing.

"That's my clever little girl!" House exclaimed. "Well done Aiko." And then he shocked the room by hugging Aiko and kissing her all over her face. Aiko took it in her stride and even kissed him back. It was obvious they had done something like this before – even if for some other reason.

Blythe recovered from her shock soonest but she waited till Cuddy got herself together well enough to go to House and demand that others wanted to celebrate too. Cuddy took Aiko from House to hug and praise and then she passed the little girl to Blythe.

Aiko demonstrated her new skill a couple of more times and then House announced that it was time for her to go to bed. She could do more walking the next day – she would have more audience then, with Foreman and his parents (and probably the rest of the House-hold as well).

Once the kids were all in bed and asleep the adults converged in the living room and Cuddy just had to ask a question.

"House, tell me why you were so exited about Aiko's first step when you totally shrugged off her first word?"

"I told you," House replied. "Learning to talk is a process; you really cannot say when the words really start meaning something for the child and when she is just experimenting with sounds. The first word is always an arbitrary decision on the part of the parents. However, when it comes to walking, there is nothing arbitrary about the first step: you either walk or you don't. And Aiko did."

"You ... " Cuddy hesitated. She wanted to say that it had looked like House hugged and kissed Aiko like that on regular basis, but she decided against it. There was a chance that if she made too much of a fuss over it, he would stop – even though he had been doing it in the private even now. But she wasn't taking any risks, not with the kids. "You just have to be the most exasperating parent I know!" Cuddy decided to say instead.

"You say that like it was a bad thing," House complained. "Aiko hasn't minded."

"And she is an expert on this subject," Higa inserted. "So something about your method must be working."

"All of it is working," Blythe defended her son. "Aiko is happy and I'm sure the Trips will be, too."

"Hear, hear," House crowed. "It works, let's not fix it."

-------------------------

Some time later Blythe was making tea for herself in the kitchen when Dr Higa came to get a drink for himself.

"I don't think I have thanked you," Blythe wondered. "Or have I?"

"For what?" Higa asked, though he had his suspicions.

"For making my son happy," Blythe said. "For giving him Aiko."

"Actually, I didn't," Higa smiled. "I didn't give Aiko to him; I gave him to Aiko."

"I think that is splitting hairs, but I don't really care who got who," Blythe responded. "They have each other and I have what I always hoped for my son: a family that will give him happiness."

"Happiness is not a permanent state," Higa warned.

"I know," Blythe agreed. "But it can be a reoccurring state, and it seems to be so with Aiko. I have never seen Greg laugh so often, even as a child. And I don't believe anyone, but an innocent child could make him feel that happy that often. You gave him that and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm forever in your debt."

"No, Blythe, you're not," Higa declined. "I love him, too. And if there was any debt at all, it has been repaid. Aiko is happy, too. She is loved, secure and accepted. She has a larger family than I ever could imagine before. So many people who have no blood ties to her at all, have accepted her into their hearts and lives. If there is any debt, it's mine. I hoped, I prayed that giving Aiko, the last of my family, to Gregory was the right thing to do, but I never even dreamed that it would work this well. She has siblings now; she has a mother and a grandmother. There are aunts and uncles who are willing to look after her and the world is open for her. No, there is no need to thank me. I think I'm the winner here."

"I suppose we both got more than we ever expected out of this gift," Blythe accepted. "But I still thank you, since you started this all, even if it turned out to be more than you expected. Thank you."

"And I thank you," Higa said. "For your son. I could not have asked for a better father for my granddaughter had I spent a thousand years looking for one."

"So we both have what we hoped for," Blythe concluded. "Funny how things sometimes work out. But I'm so glad they do."


	42. Valse Triste

_The music for this chapter is – surprise, surprise – Valse__ Triste, op 44 by Jean Sibelius, who composed it (and five other pieces) for the drama __**Death **__written by his brother in law. And again a possible tissue warning is issued._

-------------------------------------------

Eric Foreman's life had turned upside down. He didn't know what was going on anymore. First that morning Wilson had run into the diagnostics room brandishing his mobile phone and exclaiming that Aiko was walking. Blythe had sent him the video of Aiko's first steps to his phone first thing in the morning and he had to share! Not that the team minded, they were all as excited, even Petra who had only just met Aiko. Though still within the normal range, ten months was young to learn to walk, but this was their clever Aiko. But what really rendered them all speechless was seeing House's reaction. This was the man who hadn't had any kind of reaction to Aiko's first word! What had changed? And from Aiko's behaviour it was quite obvious that this hadn't been the first time they had played kissy-face. The whole scenario was so different from what Eric had stubbornly believed of House – though others had been pointing out evidence to contrary – that he didn't know what to think anymore. But even so the others had been equally surprised at what they saw.

And now he was in House's house, watching his parents talk with his brother! Eric couldn't believe that House had gone to all the trouble of getting permission to bring Marcus here to meet his mother. He was sure that Dr Cuddy and Miss Hill had cleared most of the red tape to make this happen, but it had to be House's idea. Sure, they had two officers and one burly hospital orderly watching over Marcus and making sure he neither escaped nor poised any threat to anyone, but Eric was still amazed.

The Foreman's had arrived around noon and Eric had met them and escorted them to the house. Blythe greeted them there and helped them settle in. Both House and Foreman senior had agreed that telling Mrs Foreman what was going on with Marcus was pointless as she probably didn't even remember who Marcus – at least as an adult – was. Rodney Foreman had told his wife that they were visiting friends of his and one of them was going away for a long time and there would be a small farewell gathering. Eric had at that point wondered how they were going to explain why the gathering was taking place in a hospital, but then he found out that House had already taken care of that. Of course Blythe could make House do almost anything, but she had made it clear that she had had no idea of the plan until House told her about it.

Not knowing about a party much in advance hadn't fazed Blythe, though. A military wife was like a scout: always prepared. She had put this gathering together in couple of hours and everything looked like she had been planning for this for weeks. Eric's head was whirling. He could not understand how and why this was happening. Why was House being so nice to his family? It wasn't in his nature – that everyone had to agree on. House was never nice just for the sake of being nice. He had to have something up his sleeve. Blythe and Cuddy and the rest of the gang were nice to people they knew, they and their motivations didn't puzzle Eric. But House? What was his angle? Eric watched House invite Alicia Foreman to the piano, and seat her next to him. They talked while House played something old, something Alicia seemed to remember. Then House asked something and Eric saw his mother shake her head and laugh. House insisted and then he took Alicia's hand and used it to press three keys on the piano, one by one. He repeated the sequence and then let Alicia practice it a few time and after that he joined with his other hand playing a more elaborate sequence; but together the two sequences worked into a nice little tune.

"God, I need a drink," Eric muttered to himself feeling faint.

"I know," Chase's voice game from behind Eric. "Too bad Blythe banned anything but soft drinks from the house for this. Understandable with your mother's medication and Marcus' situation, but still, some of us could have used something to steady our nerves. Here, have some coffee. At least it has caffeine in it."

"Caffeine is a stimulant, not exactly steadying for the nerves," Eric pointed out dryly accepting the mug Chase gave him, nevertheless.

"We're doctors," Chase shrugged. "We have coffee in our veins. It doesn't work with us the way it does with normal people."

"Speaking of normal," Eric still couldn't get his eyes away from House who was now conversing with Alicia and both the other Foreman men. "What is House after now?"

"You don't think that he is just being nice?" Chase asked – clearly not thinking anything of the kind himself either.

"House is never just nice," Eric stated. "He has to be after something. And whatever it is, I'm sure he wants it from me."

"Probably," Chase agreed. "You will be the head of neurology of some hospital or another one day fairly soon. I think he likes the idea that he has you in his pocket should he ever decide to call in the debt. And he probably likes the idea of you waiting for him to call it in even when he isn't going to."

"Chase, have I ever told you that I really don't like you?" Foreman groused.

"Yes, I believe you have," Chase smiled. "I think it's quite an honour, actually, since the only other person you _really don't like_ is House. ... Seriously, though, I don't think House did this only to get to you. You know how he is about people whose brains don't function normally. I think he actually has a point, because the best way to find out how brains work is to observe them when they don't."

"So you think my mother and brother are just guinea pigs for him?" Eric asked.

"No. He really likes people who think differently, even if it is because of a malfunctioning brain. You have seen it before." Chase observed. "Besides, he respects your father."

"Why?" Eric couldn't believe Chase's claim. He wasn't used to having people like House – rich, highly educated (never mind highly intelligent) white men – give respect to someone like his father, a black man from the ghetto.

"Because your father knows who he is and doesn't try to be anything else," Chase stated. "He is real and House respects that."

"I find it hard to believe that House respects anyone or anything," Eric admitted. "But it seems that I need to start considering the possibility. He certainly respects his mother and Dr Higa. And maybe he is starting to show respect for Dr Cuddy as well. It's just not something I have learned to expect from him."

"The problem is that he rarely shows respect even when he feels it," Chase mused. "I'm sure he has always respected Dr Cuddy, which is why she can make him do things he doesn't want to, but he just doesn't show respect the same way most people do."

"You're such a suck up," Foreman sighed though not scornfully – at least not this time.

"Whatever," Chase didn't care. "But the two hours Marcus was given are near gone, so get ready to say your goodbyes and then Cameron and I will take you out for a drink."

"Thanks," Eric nodded. "I can't drink much, since I'm coming back for dinner tonight, but I need something soon."

Just then Blythe made her way to Eric: "Eric, dear, time to come and say goodbye to your brother. Though you will of course go on seeing him in the hospital for some time yet, but since this is a farewell party we will say our goodbyes."

"How has mother been?" Eric asked. He hadn't had much conversation with her as he was going to be there that night again and had therefore made room for Marcus. Alicia had been her usual kind and cheery self but Eric was sure her husband was the only person she knew in the room.

"She has enjoyed herself," Blythe informed Eric gently. "It is so fortunate that her basic nature is trusting and happy so she isn't afraid even among strangers – at least not yet. She doesn't know who Marcus is, but has been happy to talk to him and reminiscence over things that her sons used to do when kids; and don't worry, she remembers only good things. I suspect that she won't remember this party anymore once you come over for dinner; House thinks her short term memory is almost gone, but right now she is having fun and Marcus seems content, too. I know this is hard for you, but you're not alone. Any help we can give just ask."

"Thank you, Blythe," Eric found it still a little difficult to call House's mother by her first name, but since he had been told to do so, he did his best to comply. "I'm ok. This is hard, but I'm ok."

"Good," Blythe accepted, though obviously she didn't really believe Eric. "This is over soon and then you can go for that drink." And she walked away leaving Eric and Chase follow her at their own pace.

"You told her about the plan?" Eric wondered to Chase.

"No," Chase denied. "But she is House's mother. I'm not at all surprised that she knows things nobody has told her."

--------------------------------

Chase, Cameron and Foreman were at their usual bar drinking their usual drinks. Cameron was creditably curbing her sympathy (though it had taken a couple of painful kicks under the table from Chase to help her do so) and Foreman appreciated the companionable silence in their table.

"So what plans does House have for your brother's treatment?" Chase asked. There was no point in pretending that what was in all their minds wasn't so they might as well talk about it. Only it was better to talk about the medical side and leave the emotions and such out of it.

"We started him on the usual combination used for early onset Alzheimer's this morning and we are still monitoring him to see if there are any adverse side-effects," Foreman responded. "But there's not much else to be done."

"Aren't there quite a few clinical trials going," Cameron frowned. "Surely you are trying to get him on one of them? Even if they don't work for him, I would think he would like to help gather as much information as possible about this illness. You mother has been involved in some, hasn't she?"

"Yes, she has," Foreman nodded. "But Marcus cannot take part in any until he is out of prison. We met with the hospital lawyer this morning and while Marcus was getting papers drawn about his wishes about his treatment we also discussed that possibility. It appears that using prisoners for medical testing is a big no-no. I can sort of understand that since you could run into huge ethical problems there, but it still sucks. The lawyer even advised us not to mention anything about clinical trials during the parole hearing."

"You mean if you're in prison you cannot take part in an experiment that could even possibly save your life?" Cameron was indignant.

"Yes, that is what I mean," Foreman said.

"Is there no way around it?" Chase wondered.

"We could go to court and see if we get an individual court order, but that would take a lot of time," Foreman explained. "The lawyer thinks that he can get Marcus' parole hearing moved up sooner than what it would take to get a court order to allow him to take part in a clinical trial."

"That's good," Chase concluded. "So at least you can start looking at the trials and find out which looks most promising for him. Need any help?"

"Thanks, but no," Foreman declined. "I'm pretty current on everything going on with Alzheimer's, for obvious reasons."

"And how is Marcus holding up?" Cameron asked sympathetically. "I know he refused to see the therapist at first, but has he changed his mind?"

"No," Eric informed her. "He is still refusing to see her. I did talk to him and he promised to think about it, but I'm not sure what he is going to do. He is depressed, though not as much as some I've seen. He has spoken with House for some reason and that seems to have helped a little. Why, I cannot imagine, but it has. Though even so House has told them to watch out for any suicide attempts."

"You think he is that depressed?" Chase was a little startled. Marcus had been quiet but hadn't looked suicidal at the party.

"House thinks so," Foreman answered. "And I'm inclined to agree with him. I mean, why would he not be? He has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and he knows exactly what that means. He is in prison which means he cannot get the best care even when with me working in the hospital we could afford it. He cannot even contribute to finding a cure to this illness due to being in prison and quite apart from all that, I don't think this is the ideal illness to have whilst in prison. Especially as his symptoms include sudden bouts of aggression, which means they probably need to keep him either in isolation or in hospital – where he would need to be in isolation too."

"Yeah, that's a pretty grim picture," Chase agreed. "Does his medication include antidepressants?"

"They will once we know how he reacts to the Alzheimer's medication," Foreman nodded.

"Your mother was very nice," Cameron inserted as the subject of Marcus seemed to be exhausted. "And she seemed to enjoy herself, even if she wasn't quite sure where she was and why."

"Yeah," Foreman replied shortly staring at his drink morosely.

"Ok, we need another round," Chase decided and went to get the drinks.

------------------------------------

Eric had dreaded the dinner that night even though he knew that Chase, Cameron and Wilson were not going to be there and therefore there were at least a few people who would not hear his mother tell stories about Eric's childhood. Sure they had heard a few of them already, at the party, but fortunately his mother had mostly spoken with Marcus and her husband and people – knowing the situation – had left them mostly alone. But House was still going to be there and Eric was sure the juiciest stories would be repeated.

In reality the evening hadn't been that bad; mostly because House had brought Aiko to the table as well and she, by her mere presence, dominated much of the conversation. The childhood stories had been told, but not only by Alicia but also by Blythe – which gave Eric some blackmail material should he need any. (I won't tell that story if you won't tell this one!). Dr Higa had even got Eric a shot of sake before dinner, so with the couple of drinks he had had earlier he was fairly fortified. Now the dinner was over and no big disaster had hit and Eric found that he had actually enjoyed it all.

The table was cleared and they were drinking coffee in the living room when House's phone rang. Eric groaned a little; this could mean a new patient and he really wasn't up to it right now. House spoke briefly (and he hadn't even answered with his normal remarks about House's house of whining or something, but that was probably because his mother was present) and then he hung up. He didn't say anything at first but then suggested to Foreman senior a stroll in the back yard, as he was also taking out some cigars from a stash in a side table the ladies correctly assumed that the stroll was just a euphemism. Rodney declined the cigar but at House's insistence agreed to come with him. "You too, Eric," House invited and something in his tone made Eric assume that there was no choice.

As soon as they got out House told the Foremans to take the swing on the porch leaning against the railing himself he stashed the cigar back into his breast pocket. He turned to Foreman senior and said: "I'm sorry, but that call was from the hospital. It seems that Marcus had an unexpected and delayed reaction to his medication. They were unable to help him. He died fifteen minutes ago."

"Died... " Rodney found House's words hard to accept. "He was... How ... Was he in pain?"

"As you saw the call was very brief so I don't have much information yet," House explained. "However they did tell me that it was very quick so I don't think there was pain. I need to go in tonight and I'll take Eric with me. We'll have more information for you in the morning once we have done the autopsy."

"There will be an autopsy?" Rodney wondered, though mostly just to say something.

"Dad, Marcus wanted it," Eric explained. "When we met with the lawyer this morning, we discussed everything and Marcus said that if cutting him open after death would help get information about this illness he wanted it done."

"You'll be there when it's being done?" Rodney asked his other son. "I don't... I think you should be there."

"I will. I will be there," Eric promised.

"Alicia... What..." Rodney suddenly remembered. "I can't tell her."

"No, there would not be much point," House agreed. "I'll inform my mother of the situation and she can keep company to your wife until you feel up to it and I'll send Dr Cuddy to you. She'll give you a mild sedative that ought to help you cope for now."

"Thank you," Rodney accepted. "I suppose you need to go now."

"Yes, I think we should," House said walking towards the door. "I'll just go in and tell my mother what happened and then I'll come back for Eric."

Once House was gone Eric didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. He just hugged his father who was quietly praying while tears made their way down his cheeks. Eric felt tears in his own eyes too as he thought back to the farewell party. And he was glad that he had hugged his brother and said his goodbyes even though he had been sure they would meet again soon.


	43. Do you know where you’re going to?

_Thanks for the reviews again. If you're interested the theme song for the previous chapter (sad waltz in English) can be found in You Tube as Allegro Non Troppo – Valse Triste, warning though: that is one depressing animation. _

_--------------------------------- _

Eric had come to work every day since his brother's death three days before, but every time House had sent him to the house to be with his parents. Not that he spent all his time with them; it was hard to be with his mother and not be able to tell her what had happened. But he could be with his father quite a lot as Blythe looked after Alicia. Fortunately Alicia adored babies, so Aiko could keep her entertained for hours. But now, on the fourth day, his parents had left for home early that morning and Eric didn't know where else to be than work. Not that he thought even for a minute that he could do anything useful at work, but he didn't want to be home alone either. So here he was, sitting at the table in the diagnostics conference room like Banquo's ghost; he only wished he knew who was Macbeth. Chase thankfully ignored him and went on doing his crosswords but Cameron was sending him sympathetic looks that got really close to irritating him. Or they would have had he had the energy to be irritated. Petra was at the clinic and House, of course, was not yet there at all.

He thought back to the night he had gone back to the hospital with House. They hadn't been driving for long when he just had to ask.

"Did you help him commit suicide?" Eric had asked quietly.

House had been quiet for a moment, and then he had said simply: "No."

"I need to know," Eric had gone on.

"I know," House had nodded. "That is why you're coming with me now. But though I cannot say for sure yet what caused his death, I can tell you that I did not help him."

"What do you mean?" Eric remembered feeling confused. "You said they told you it was his medication."

"They were unable to give me any reason; the side effects story was my invention," House had told him. "I thought your father needed a plausible explanation for now, to help him start dealing with it. If it turns out to be some other more or less natural cause then I will simply tell him that the autopsy revealed that the initial assumption had been wrong. If it turns out to be suicide, then I will make the unexpected side effects the official cause of death."

"You would lie in an official document?" Eric had frowned though he hadn't been sure why.

"Yes," House had stated simply. "I have a feeling your father would find it difficult to accept suicide. If it was one there is no reason to burden your father with it."

"I... I suppose you're right," Eric hadn't been able to really decide what to do. "As long as we know for sure what killed him, there is no reason to be too specific with Dad."

"And it could still be the meds," House had reminded him. "I really don't know yet. Not before the autopsy."

After that the drive had been silent until they got to the hospital.

House had examined Marcus' body and room as soon as they got to the hospital. He had also scheduled the autopsy for the next day. There really was no hurry; Marcus wasn't going anywhere. Nothing in the room had turned up any evidence to support a suicide theory: no farewell notes, nor any unexplained medicine vials or anything else. All signs pointed towards natural causes. But they would not know for sure until after the autopsy.

Once they were leaving the hospital House had told Eric that they would stop at his lodgings but Blythe had given strict instruction to bring Eric back to the house; she was making a bed for Eric in Cuddy's study. Eric had protested at first but then House had pointed out to him that Blythe's word was a law and besides that Foreman senior needed one of his sons near him now. Eric complied. He didn't really have the energy to fight. He took a change of clothes from his apartment and went to the house with House.

The next day House had performed the autopsy. As he had promised Eric had been there for it, but House had – with uncharacteristic sensitivity – set up a screen that stopped Eric from seeing the procedure. As House pointed out, Eric didn't really need to see the body to fulfil his promise, both literally and in spirit. He was there; he could see his brother's face (at least until House got to the head) but he didn't need to see how he was dissected and examined in order to find out how he had died. He could still hear House dictate the report, but he could let the murmur of House's voice just wash over him without taking in the words.

The autopsy revealed that Marcus had had a subarachnoid haemorrhage due to an aneurysm that had been there possibly for quite some time but had ruptured only now. House could find no reason to connect the rupture either with any of the medication that Marcus had been on nor with any other direct cause. The aneurysm had simply ruptured and given its location, death had been almost instantaneous. It was unlikely that Marcus had had time to have any other symptoms than some nausea and possibly a headache.

Eric had explained the results to his father as well as he could and Foreman senior had been relieved to be able to know for sure that Marcus had not committed suicide. He was also glad that Marcus had had a chance to say goodbye to them all and had not ended up dying in prison. With Cuddy's help he had arranged for the body to be sent home for funereal and it was going to take place next Saturday. It was going to be a very simple, quiet ceremony and Eric was going to be there too. He wasn't at all sure how he felt about going home, especially as Alicia was not going to be told about any of it. But that was also all the more reason for him to be there for his father.

His musings were interrupted by the arrival of House. For some reason he had Aiko with him – and he wasn't giving any explanations. Not that anyone really wanted to know, they were just happy to have her. As soon as he had rolled in to the room House set Aiko on the floor and once she got her balance she run straight to Eric who caught her and lifted her up in the air making her laugh. House got out of his chair and parked it near the wall gathering his things from it.

"You know, Aiko," Eric told her. "You were supposed to have learned to walk, but I don't think I have seen you walk one single step since you started. You always run. Tell me, what's your hurry?"

Aiko did tell him, but since he was not House he could not understand. Fortunately Aiko was used to it that nobody but Daddy understood her so she didn't mind, she just chattered away happily.

"So, Foreman," House said. "Do you think you will be able to do some work today or shall I assign you to baby sitting detail?"

"If you get a case, I'm perfectly capable of contributing to the diagnosis," Eric replied a little huffily earning a nod from House.

"Ok," House accepted. "But until a case presents itself you're still watching Aiko. You were right about her running and that means that you have to be alert all the time. She gets into things a lot faster now than she used to; though I have to say she was pretty fast even before."

"I need a word with you, though," Eric said before House went into his office.

"Fine, bring Aiko with you," House limped into his room leaving the door open and Eric followed carrying Aiko.

Once in his office house stowed his bag away and sat behind his desk indicating that Eric should take a seat as well. "So shoot," House invited.

"Marcus is being buried this Saturday," Eric started after he had sat down and settle Aiko on his lap. "Since I'm going to be there I'm taking my vacation starting tomorrow. And I'm not coming back. I'm giving my notice."

House didn't seem surprised but he asked: "And do you know what you're going to do after that?"

"A few days ago, in fact just the morning that... Just that morning, I got a call from Marty Hamilton," Eric explained. "He said that he had heard from John Henry Giles that I was thinking of leaving your employ. He offered me a partnership in his clinic."

"Marty Hamilton," House repeated musingly. "The LA twit. Yes, I remember him. I did check him out then and he is a good doctor. Not an outstanding doctor, but there are very few of those. But he is a good doctor. So what was the deal?"

"He offered me a deal that was even better than what he offered two years ago, but I haven't actually told him yet that I accept," Eric said. "I only decided this morning."

"And you wanted to tell me first," House mocked him very gently. "I'm touched. Don't sign for more than six months yet. Once you've been there that long and he has seen how much he needs you, you can get an even better deal."

"That's it?" Eric wasn't sure what he had expected House to say, but this ready acceptance hadn't been it.

"Yeah," House shrugged. "I told you to get yourself another job. I can hardly complain when you do so, can I?"

"Well, that would be unreasonable," Eric agreed. "But then..."

"Unreasonable is what you usually expect from me," House stated. "Yes, I can see how this reasonable approach might disconcert you. I must try it more often."

"But you're ok with me leaving right now," Eric still had to check.

"Yeah," House confirmed. "In a way I already have your replacement in the form of Gilmar and you probably would be rather gloomy company to have around anyway, right after the funereal."

"Ok, then," Eric accepted uncertainly and made ready to stand up.

"Just one thing," House stopped him before he carried Aiko back to the conference room. "As your boss it doesn't matter to me where you go once you leave here, but as Daddy House, I must insist that you keep in touch. The trips don't know you yet, but Aiko does. And she is a little too clever for me to just pass any passing black guy as her Uncle Eric, so make sure you come back often enough for her to keep remembering you."

After that reminder Eric was even more disconcerted but he looked at Aiko who was looking back at him with dark, intelligent eyes and he nodded. "I'll make sure I'll come back often enough. And I'll keep in touch otherwise, too."

"Good," House closed the discussion. "My mother will be pleased, too."

----------------------------------------------

That night at home House told Cuddy and that Eric had resigned that day.

"I made him promise to come and say goodbye to you too before he leaves," House said. "I'm just not sure if he will do it before or after the funereal."

"I was so hoping he would wait around for a position with us," Cuddy mourned. "The head of neurology will retire in a little over a year and I could have placed Foreman there as the assistant head until then. Now he's gone. Though given everything that has happened and given that he really hates you House, I'm not surprised he needs some distance."

"He doesn't hate me," House insisted. "He just doesn't like me. There is a difference. Besides, you may still get him. I told him to sign for six months only and if he is smart – and he is – he will do just that. Even if he doesn't want to return he can still renegotiate a better deal for himself once he knows what he really wants. Right now he just wants out of here and Marty's timing was right."

"You think he would want to come back?" Cuddy wasn't so sure. "Hamilton's practise is one of the most popular ones in LA. He gets a lot of celebrities and he is not an unknown sight at high profile parties either. He even features in the gossip columns every once in a while."

"You read gossip columns?" House was appalled.

"No need to take that tone with me," Cuddy glared at him. "I have caught you reading them at the clinic too often to believe your outrage."

"But I'm not a Dean of Medicine or the Head of a hospital," House pointed out. "Who cares what a lowly employee like me reads. You, on the other hand, you're a totally different story. What would the board of directors think if they knew?"

"They know," Cuddy stated dryly. "I find most of the donors through the gossip columns. Once a celebrity is found with his slash her pants down – either figuratively or literally – they need something to repair their image and nothing works like charity."

"And you need to keep informed so that when they have done something you can be the first to the carcass; you vulture you," House admired.

"Exactly," Cuddy accepted the admiration as her due.


	44. Life is unfair

_Again, thank you for your opinions. I like them very much :) . And here's the next chapter since it's Friday again!! Yes!_

_-----------------------------_

Eric had been gone for over a week. He had dropped by at the house to say his goodbyes to Blythe, Cuddy and the kids but House hadn't seen him since his last day at work. Which was ok with him. They had had one case since then and Dr Petra Gilmar had really learned how House worked when he was working. The diagnosing had taken three days straight – nights included, and the only one who had had any real sleep was House, though even he had stayed around most of the time. The patient had been the standard 40 year old male – Petra had allowed herself a smile on that one – who had presented with night blindness, loss of the sense of smell, some deafness, balance and coordination problems, numbness and dry and scaly skin. The most alarming of his symptoms, and the one that had finally brought him to the hospital, were the cardiac arrhythmias. Finally they had diagnosed the patient with Adult Refsum Disease. He needed plasmapheresis and a strict diet avoiding all foods with phytanic acid. House was fairly sure that he would not regain his night vision, hearing or his sense of smell, but other than that he was going to be fine.

During that case Petra had also learned why it was a good idea to keep House away from the patient and his family. The man's wife was basically a pretty woman, but obviously terrified of growing old so she dressed too young (and way too tight) and had practically used a shovel to put on her makeup. On seeing her the first time House had shuddered in shock and said:

"Good God! Well at least we now know why the patient went blind!"

"He is not blind," Petra had said trying to make House lower his voice by talking quietly herself. "It's only night blindness, not total blindness."

"And you wonder at it?" House hadn't lowered his voice one bit. "If you had that in your bed at night wouldn't you go blind, too?"

Petra hadn't known what to do, but fortunately Cameron and Chase did. Chase steered House to the patient and Cameron took the wife aside for apologies and mollification. Apparently she played the _cripple card_ to the full. And apparently she had had enough practise at it since the wife actually decided not to sue House.

"Is he always like that?" Petra had asked later.

"Pretty much," Chase nodded.

"We once had a patient - a young girl who we thought had inherited dwarfism from her mother." Cameron revealed. "It turned out to have been a pituitary problem instead, but that we found out later. Anyway, at one point I was examining the girl with House and her mother in the room with me. House had read from the files that the girl's father was normal size so he decided to ask the mother, there and then, how they had done it."

"It?" Petra was not sure she understood. "You mean...?"

"Yeah, she means the nasty," Chase clarified.

"He can't have...!" Petra was appalled.

"I was curious!" House's voice came from the doorway. "Wouldn't you be?"

"I might be curious," Petra accepted. "But I would never be so crass as to ask!"

"What happened to you being able to handle anything I say as long as I keep my hands to myself?" House asked curiously. "Or was it just anything I say to you? Did you think that under my gruff exterior there was a soft centre? That I was mean only to my Fellows and possibly co-workers?" House was silent for a moment waiting for an answer, but Petra didn't have any. "You really thought that I was going to be different when I was stroking the fevered brow of a patient, didn't you? Well, let me tell you I have no desire whatsoever to stroke any fevered brows." House paused and thought for a moment. "Though, come to think of it, there was one brow I would not have minded getting up close and more personal with. She was really something – those love apples were handcrafted by God. But then I found out that she was actually a he. Cured me from wanting to go anywhere near the patients ever again, that did." House shook his head regretfully, filled his mug with coffee and limped into his office leaving a speechless Petra behind him.

"That's the House we know and NOT love," Chase pointed out to her as he took up his crosswords.

----------------------------

Later that night House and the rest of the people living in the house – except the children who had just been put to bed – were relaxing in the living room. Cuddy was reading a medical journal, as was House; Kasumii and Grey were just cuddling and talking on one of the couches and Blythe and Higa were sitting together in adjoining armchairs and watching TV. At one point Blythe went into the kitchen and came back with coffee for everyone. House watched her distribute the mugs and something about the way she handed the mug to Higa caught his attention. He thought about it for a moment watching his mother and his mentor sit together in companionable silence.

"Am I the only one in this house who isn't getting any!" House snorted with disgust.

"Pardon?" Cuddy looked up startled as did Kasumii and Grey, but they said nothing.

"You don't count right now," House told Cuddy. "You're under doctor's orders."

"What are you talking about?" Cuddy was still completely at a loss.

"I told you we couldn't keep it a secret for long," Higa reminded Blythe mildly.

"I never wanted it to be a secret," Blythe insisted. "I just didn't know how to... It's not exactly easy to introduce the subject to casual conversation and he has been busy these last three days."

"Not to mention that I'm still scarred for life from our previous conversation involving your sexdrive," House insisted.

"Gregory," Blythe admonished her son. "There is no reason to make it sound like I was a nymphomaniac or something."

"Yeah, but you're my mother," House said with an exaggerated shudder. "You're not supposed to ... you know."

"Blythe? You...?" Cuddy looked questioningly to Blythe and then Higa and then back.

"We seem to, yes," Blythe replied a little diffidently.

"Gregory?" Higa didn't have to verbalise the question any more specifically, House understood the look that accompanied that one word.

"You're both grown people and perfectly aware that you share grandchildren," House shrugged. "Since I assume that you have taken them into account, this is your private business. Just let me keep my illusion that you're too old to do anything but cuddle, ok?"

"Greg," Blythe huffed a little. "I'm not..." That was as far as she got before Higa gently put his hand on her mouth.

"Absolutely we're too old for anything else," he told House with a twinkling smile.

"Good," House accepted the promise with a straight face – but there was a responding twinkle in his eyes, too. "So I'm getting my flat back all to myself then?"

"If... if it's ok with you," Blythe still felt a little timid about this new situation.

"If I'm going to keep my illusions, then yeah, it's more than ok," House pointed out. "On the other hand, if you're not quite sure, the downstairs bedroom is free, too. Wilson can sleep in my other bedroom when he stays."

"Tonight is too late to move anyway," Higa observed. "We can talk it over tomorrow, Blythe, and decide what feels right."

"Yes, Akira," Blythe smiled. "We can talk it over tomorrow. The main thing is that Greg knows now."

------------------

A little later Cuddy was in the kitchen when House came in to get more coffee. She hadn't dared to say anything when Blythe and Higa had confessed their relationship to House (as neither had Kasumii and Grey) because it was definitely all between House, his mother and Dr Higa. But she was happy and relieved that House had taken it so well. Blythe deserved to be happy, but had Cuddy known about the affair, she would not have been able to predict House's reaction.

"Some chaperon you turned out to be," House griped to her before she could say anything.

"I didn't know I needed to chaperon anyone," Cuddy defended herself with a wide smile. "I'm happy for them, though."

"Hmmmm," was all House said in response.

"Are you really ok with it?" Cuddy asked cautiously. Maybe he had just been nice to his mother.

"Of course I'm ok with it," House dismissed her concerns. "Mom deserves to be happy. And as I said, they are adults. They know what they are doing."

"I'm sure they do, but love could be blinding them," Cuddy decided to play the devil's advocate – and also to test House a little.

"Love," House huffed a little. "I suppose, though I know very little about that. However, if it is love then at least it's based on friendship. That seems to be a pretty good foundation, from the little I have seen of happy couples. And no matter how blinded they might be, they would never do anything that could harm or cause distress to the children, so I'm definitely ok with all this."

"So we have Kasumii and Grey, Blythe and Higa," Cuddy itemised. "That leaves just us. I'm not sure it's quite fair, since this house-hold was formed for us and our kids."

"Life is unfair," House pointed out. "Besides you don't seem to be missing anything. You're not even talking to me anymore."

"I'm talking to you right now!" Cuddy stared at House amazed.

"I don't mean now," House snorted. "I mean... You don't _talk_ to me anymore."

"Oh, you mean at night," Cuddy suddenly understood. "Well, I'm no longer pregnant so I thought you'd want to be left in peace."

"Oh, so it's a case of you having got what you wanted from me and now you have no use for me anymore," House pouted. "I feel so used."

"You haven't called me either," Cuddy defended herself.

"You have just given birth! And you're taking care of the triplets all day, even if you do have Kasumii to help you." House said. "I don't want to wake you up if you're sleeping. You need your sleep."

"That hasn't stopped you before," Cuddy scoffed.

"Before you haven't been the mother of my children," House pointed out.

"Ok, you do have a point," Cuddy accepted.

"I don't think it's fair of you to stop talking to me right when the talks could get interesting," House whined. "Now that the kids are no longer listening in we could talk dirty. I need some help with my fantasy life. You have totally ruined it for me. Lifeguard Cuddy absolutely refuses to do anything but build sandcastles with the kids and Mother Superior Cuddy keeps lecturing me about my language and the need to clean it up for the kids. Total passion killers both these days."

"Oh dear, how insensitive of me," Cuddy was biting her lip trying to hide a smile. Not that she succeeded.

"You have totally ruined them for me," House accused. "You owe me some help in getting them replaced."

"I'll think about it," Cuddy promised ambiguously.

-------------------------

Even later House and Higa retired to House's flat. As they were about to go into their respective rooms Higa stopped House for a moment.

"Are you truly ok with me and your mother?" Higa asked seriously.

"Just make her happy," House responded.

"I'll do my best," Higa promised and they walked into their rooms.

As soon as he got into his bedroom House saw that somebody had been there. There was something on his bed. He lifted it up and raised his eyebrows at the frivolous piece of sexy, black lace. Next to it, on the bed, was a small bottle of Chanel n:o 5. Before he could ponder on them longer the walkie-talkie came to life and Cuddy's voice said his name.

"I hope you're not planning for me to wear these," House suggested in response.

"No," Cuddy laughed. "I want you to picture me in it – once I have my figure back and can fit in it."

"What do you mean _once_," House asked. "As far as I can see Grey's regime has worked wonders. Your ass is as tight as it has ever been. You'd fit in to this tiny thing with no problem. Except possibly the puppies. They might threaten to spill out, but I don't see how that would be a bad thing."

"You seem to have no difficulties in picturing me in it then," House could hear the smile in Cuddy's voice. "So does it help with your fantasy life?"

"I should say so," House agreed. "It's already on overdrive. Want to hear more?"

"I might," Cuddy purred. "I'm not sure how crude your fantasy life is. Is it fit for a lady's ears?"

"Why don't I give you some examples and you'll judge for yourself?" House suggested.

"That sounds like a sensible idea," Cuddy replied.

And it turned out that House's fantasy life could, indeed, be made to fit a _lady's ears_.


	45. Like what you see?

_I'm glad you liked the previous chapter and thank you for telling me._

_------------------------------------------_

About two weeks after Dr Higa had moved in together with Blythe and House had re-established his talking sessions with Cuddy – and not only dirty talking, they talked about a lot of other things as well, Blythe decided it was time to have a proper get-together again. Not just the normal open house they had on Sunday afternoons (and pretty much every other bloody day as well, as House complained), but a real party, with people dressing up a little more and guests who didn't belong to the proper House-hold invited, too. Main reason for the party was that Eric had called and said that he was coming over for the weekend. He had planned on staying in a hotel, but Blythe had overruled him and he was spending the night at the house (the downstairs bedroom was free).

So here they all were, all over House's backyard talking and eating and having a good time. The House-hold (including Eric for today), Miss Hill, Petra Gilmar plus boyfriend, couple of women Blythe had got to know at her job in the hospital, the woman Wilson was currently dating – darn if House could remember her name – and Chase and Cameron had brought dates, too (though the said dates seemed to be in possession of too much information since Chase's date kept glaring at Cameron and Cameron's date gave stern, warning stares to Chase). In fact, had House wanted to have a party, he would have been quite entertained by the people interacting around him. Problem was he didn't really want to have them all here. But this was his mother's party, so he didn't close himself inside his flat, though he didn't exactly mingle either. Fortunately nobody really expected him to so he was left alone to sit on the porch swing with Aiko. That was until Eric joined him.

"Escaping the crowd?" House asked him.

"Yeah, a little," Eric admitted. "Though, mainly I just wanted to have time with Aiko."

"Have to say I approve of your priorities," House nodded handing Aiko over to Eric to hold. "Tell me, how is La-la-land?"

"It's ok," Eric responded with notable lack of enthusiasm.

"You're a partner in one of the most prestigious practices in LA, have at least three times the salary you got from me, your own car a furnished flat in the better part of the town and it's just ok?" House clarified. "Do I smell a snake in the Paradise?"

"He's not in the Paradise," Eric muttered with some aggravation.

"You mean me?" House was delighted. "What am I supposed to have done all the way from the other side of the country?"

"You did it before I got to the other side of the country," Eric sighed. "I used to admire Marty Hamilton. Not just as a doctor; after all it is hardy surprising that you outshine him on that aspect, but I also admired him for his success, his humble manner and humanity."

"And now you don't?" House queried.

"His bedside manner still beats yours coming and going," Eric pointed out.

"Anybody's bedside manner beats mine," House shrugged.

"That's true," Eric laughed settling Aiko a little better against his shoulder – she was falling asleep; she had been rather active all day, after all, greeting the guests and being adored by them (as indeed were her siblings as well). "But the problem I have is that I no longer can look at him without searching for hidden motives. I never quite trusted you and now I don't trust Marty. And he is beginning to irritate me with his _modesty_. If all his diagnoses are results of just being lucky, he needs to stop practising medicine and leave it to those who actually know what they are doing. Yes, there is always an element of luck involved when you try to find out what is wrong with the patient, but mostly you're supposed to rely on your skill, knowledge and experience! Also, since he never acknowledges his own contribution, he never really acknowledges the hard work his team does either. It's all about him. Even when he thanks people for their hard work it's still all about him."

"I thought that was your complaint about me, too?" House wondered.

"Yeah," Eric admitted. "But you don't care if anybody knows it or not. You don't accept awards and give speeches. You don't even talk to the patients. Yeah, you took all the credit from our hard work but then you sent us to talk to the patient; we could have claimed the credit to ourselves had we wanted to. You wouldn't have cared. Same with the articles, you never even read them. And the one and only time I heard you give a public speech I was more than happy that you made it all about yourself even if it meant that my job was in jeopardy. At least none of it would have followed me had I been the one to go. Of course, your phenomenal luck kicked in again and it was Vogler who had to leave, not you."

"That wasn't luck," House observed. "That was Cuddy. And contrary to popular belief she didn't choose to save me but the hospital. I was just an added bonus. Though, have to admit, she didn't think of me that way then."

"Whatever," Eric didn't really care.

"So you're basically beginning to think that _Marty_ is shallow and vain," House mused a little sardonically. "And you have come to this conclusion because you're comparing him to me? And because I'm such a deep and humble character?"

"No," Eric gave a deep sigh. "Because I'm beginning to suspect that you actually have reason for your arrogance. I still don't like it, don't think I do. Or you. But I still find I can tolerate it marginally better than Marty's _aw shucks _humility. I'm leaving there after these six months."

"Any idea what you want to do then?" House asked mildly.

"I may stay in LA, there are other practises, hospitals and clinics there," Eric pondered. "But I want to treat real people again. The celebrities are great for the first week, but after that, you start to see them as just people. With them, though, most of their problems are self-inflicted. Not that they don't deserve to be helped just the same, but there are plenty of doctors who want to do that. I want something else."

"Talk to Cuddy," House told Foreman. "She is always looking for good doctors. And if she can't offer anything you'd want, you still have five months to make up your mind. And take Aiko to Kasumii, she can put my baby to bed."

----------------------------------

Later on House found Cuddy taking a breather from the crowd. She too had found her way to the porch which House had vacated for a while to get something to eat and drink.

"Did Foreman find you?" House asked.

"Yes," Cuddy nodded. "And it seems you were right. He doesn't like LA as much as he thought he would. He liked my offer and promised to think it over. I'm fairly sure he will accept it."

"Good," House said sitting down on the swing next to Cuddy. "So tell me, why is something missing from my bedroom?"

"Something is missing?" Cuddy was all wide-eyed innocence. "How could I possibly know what is supposed to be in your bedroom and what not?"

"Because this something you brought there yourself," House pointed out. "And since it went missing this morning, I know I haven't misplaced it nor has Lupe accidentally taken it away. My flat was cleaned two days ago. Nobody but you knew I had it so you're the only one who could have taken it."

"Well, it is my property," Cuddy specified. "I might have needed it."

House was suddenly very alert. He looked Cuddy up and down: "Do you mean that right now...?"

"No, not right now," Cuddy smiled unconvincingly. "But if you like to think so, go ahead."

"I don't think I better," House muttered. "But I want it back!"

"I'll think about it," Cuddy promised and went to join the guests leaving House with a slightly pained look on his face.

Cuddy walked to Cameron, Chase and Petra who were sitting on the grass fairly near to the porch. All their dates had left them for a moment. The boyfriends were getting food for their girls and Chase's date was apparently fixing her makeup.

"Am I dreaming it or are Blythe and Dr Higa an item now?" Cameron asked. Obviously House hadn't told the news at work and since both Blythe and Higa were fairly reserved people the connection hadn't been obvious to House's team the times they had been to the house since. Only now that they had time to really observe were they making conclusions.

"Yes they are," Cuddy admitted. "Have been for the last couple of weeks or so. I believe they reached this stage soon after Blythe's divorce came through. You were busy diagnosing that ARD patient at the time."

"How is House taking this," Chase wanted to know.

"In his stride," Cuddy said. Though then she laughed. "Mind you, they have a running joke about Blythe and Dr Higa being too old to do anything but cuddle. Every time House catches them kissing – and that's not very often since both of them are very private people – Higa reminds him that they are just cuddling and House pretends to believe it."

"I'm glad Blythe has found happiness," Cameron sighed. "But I didn't realise her divorce was finalised already."

"I understood that once they had agreed on the practicalities like division of assets and things like that, John went to Reno and got the divorce," Cuddy revealed. "I think he wanted to show that he didn't care. Also he was already living with someone else by then."

"This whole situation," Petra was shaking her head. "This house, the ... I don't know; the family or whatever you call yourselves _(the house-hold, Chase inserted)._ Ok, the house-hold, I don't quite understand all this. I mean I think it's great for the kids, but how on earth are you making it work. How ... I mean House... I don't know."

"You mean how on earth did House get this and us all together and what insanity is keeping us together?" Cuddy asked.

"I suppose," Petra shrugged. "I thought that I could handle House, since with four brothers I have heard pretty much every crudity that a man is capable of, but ..."

"House is in a league of his own," Chase stated. "But so is Aiko - and I suspect the Trips will be, too. We're all in this, but I suspect none of us can really explain why or how."

-------------------

The party had been a success and even House had found it tolerable – mostly because he kept on thinking of Cuddy and what she – maybe – was wearing. Once the party had been over, they had had a quiet dinner (not that anyone really ate much anymore) with just Eric – minus Grey and Kasumii who had other plans, and then Eric had left to catch his plane. After that they lounged in the living room for a while and once Grey and Kasumii were back Blythe and Higa retired for the night and soon the rest of the house followed their example. House was actually the last one to go to his flat as he had gone to the kitchen to get his last mug of coffee for the night.

As soon as House walked into his flat he thought something was different. He sniffed the air and followed the seductive scent of Chanel n:o 5 to his bedroom. He presumed that Cuddy had brought the _item_ back and had sprayed the place with the perfume just get him going. He was wrong.

When he stepped into his bedroom he found – in the soft light from the bedside lamp – that Cuddy had indeed brought that sexy piece of black lace back to him. Only she was still there herself as well, wearing it. Her pose was reminiscent of Goya's Maja paintings, only she was neither dressed nor nude and her smile was a lot more teasing.

"So, I brought it back," Cuddy announced in a purring voice. "Do you like what you see?"

"Goo, gah, wooo," House hammed.

"I take that as a yes," Cuddy laughed, pleased.

"Hrhm," House cleared his throat. "Is this what I think?"

"I visited Helen this morning by special agreement," Cuddy announced. "And she said that my _super tanker_ is perfectly ready for body maintenance." She turned over, to her stomach and gave House a good look at her _super tanker_.

"I agree it's perfect," House nodded. "So, she said that you're cleared for action should you want any?"

"Yeah," Cuddy confirmed. "Fit as a fiddle and ... well you know the song."

"Yeah, I think I may have heard it," House agreed. He walked to the bed and sat down next to Cuddy. "Only... are you sure? I... I don't know if I can return your feelings. That is if you still love me."

"House," Cuddy turned back to her back and sat up resting her hand on his cheek. "It may have escaped your notice but this is your room, not mine. I came here, so I'm not expecting any other commitment from you than friendship. This is just friends with benefits. All I expect from you is honesty. Don't tell me what you think I might want to hear unless you really mean it and if I get hurt that's my own lookout. Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

"But I don't want you to get hurt," House frowned.

"Maybe I won't," Cuddy shrugged. "I do still love you, so it wasn't just pregnancy related delusion. But I still don't expect you to do anything you don't want to. My feelings, my business. And as long as we both know the score, what's the harm?"

"You're quite sure?" House still needed some reassurance.

"I'm sure," Cuddy stated firmly. "And besides, I like sex. With the triplets and my job I'll not have time to go out to find some. This is ideal. And just think of the money you save when you don't need to spend it on hookers. You can put it in the kid's college fund instead!"

"You do have a point," House agreed running his hand through Cuddy's hair. He started to smile, maybe this would work.

"See, I told you I know what I'm doing," Cuddy told him. "So just relax."

"I don't think relaxing is an option right now," House smiled and kissed Cuddy. "By the way, you never told me where you found this interesting piece of frivolity. Somehow I cannot see you shopping for something like this while pregnant." House asked as he caressed the strap down from Cuddy's shoulder.

"Oh, I got it from Evil Nurse Brenda as a House-warming gift," Cuddy announced as she arched closer to House.

"Really?" House was intrigued. "I think I may just have to kiss her the next time I see her."

"Don't you dare," Cuddy warned.

"That settles it," House smiled evilly. "I have to do it. But don't worry, I may be a little free with my kisses, but everything else is yours until I specifically tell you differently."


	46. Time off for good behaviour

_Thank you for your reviews. They make me smile – as I hope this next chapter will make you :D_

--------------------------------

House looked up from his journal as Cuddy came back to the bedroom. She had stayed in the bathroom after their – unexpectedly long – shower together to dry her hair with Wilson's hairdryer (good thing he had left it behind, just in case). She had wrapped House's bathrobe around her, nearly drowning in it, and now she stood at the doorway a little uncertainly. She wasn't sure what the House-etiquette was for this situation, though she hoped that she would have a chance to learn it in time; she really hoped this would not be just a one-time event. House resolved the issue by sifting a little to the side and patting the space next to him.

"Come on Cuddles," he smiled.

"You're sure," Cuddy wasn't sure if House was just being nice. "Maybe I should get back to my own room."

"What?" House gave her an insulted stare. "Was this it? You got what you wanted and now it's wham-bam-thank-you-Sir? I really didn't think you were one of those women." He pouted.

"You know I'm not," Cuddy huffed. "It's just that ... I just thought you might want your space." But she did walk to the bed and sat down on the edge.

"And you didn't think I would say it out loud if that was what I wanted," House scorned humorously. "Me being such a sensitive, polite guy."

"Sorry," Cuddy gestured with her hands before settling down next to House on the bed. "I forgot for a moment who it was I was with."

"Ouch!" House laughed as he wrapped an arm round Cuddy and pulled her against his side. "It seems that I have to improve my performance to be a little less forgettable."

"Nothing wrong with your _performance_," Cuddy snuggled to a comfortable position. "That was what addled my brains."

"**Good** save," House appreciated. "So, do you want a T-shirt or something to sleep in? You seem to have arrived slightly unprepared for all eventualities."

"You want me to stay?" Cuddy was surprised.

"Why not," House shrugged. "It seems rather pointless to send you to your room only to then use the walkie-talkies to talk till we feel ready to sleep when we can do all that right here."

"I suppose you're right," Cuddy agreed. "I think I'd like a t-shirt."

"Coming up," House said reaching under his pillow where he had already stashed one ready.

"If you had this ready for me, why did you ask?" Cuddy wanted to know.

"Well, had to give you a chance to decide to go nude," House shrugged earning a _look_ from Cuddy. "A guy can always dream!"

"Dream on," Cuddy huffed – and then she gave him a teasing smile. "One day that dream might actually come true."

"You certainly know how to keep a guy going," House acknowledged turning to sit on the edge of the bed so that he could get the covers from under him and turn off the light. Cuddy did likewise on the other side and slipped into the t-shirt at the same time. They returned to the cuddling position once they got under the covers.

"You know, Greer knows your voice," Cuddy changed the subject once they had settled.

"I'm sure she does," House accepted. "Just like she knows yours and Kasumii's."

"No, I meant that she really knows your voice," Cuddy insisted. "She knows our voices, too, true. She knows that we are the ones who cuddle her and feed her and make her comfortable. But yours she really knows. Not quite as clearly as Aiko did at one month – after all, at that time you were pretty much the only one who took care of her – but Greer is showing clear preference to you."

"Really?" House didn't know if that was a good thing or not. "I haven't noticed that. Mind you, I haven't had quite as much time with them as I'd like to with the kids staying at home and me going to work."

"You'll notice it soon enough once my maternity leave ends and you have to take them to work with you," Cuddy assured him. "And I think it's a good thing. Ben, after all, is showing clear preference for me. Priya, on the other hand, doesn't care who is looking after her as long as she gets what she wants. I think she sees us all as just her servants."

"You think she'll be a materialist once she grows up?" House wondered.

"No, I think she will take after you in being almost totally self-reliant," Cuddy smiled. "I'm sure all the kids will be independent and capable, but Priya will be the one who will make her own way and follow her own destiny, even if it means leaving people behind her. I just hope she'll not be as rude about it as you."

"I'm not sure I like that idea," House frowned. "It doesn't necessarily make for a happy life. It has suited me, but it's not one I'd like to envision for a kid of mine."

"You're not happy?" Cuddy was startled. She had thought the kids, especially Aiko, had changed things for House.

"I'm not sure I quite know what happy is," House mused. "But I'm definitely happiest now than I have ever been in my life. It may be that I just don't quite trust this feeling."

"You can trust the kids," Cuddy suggested cautiously.

"Can I?" House doubted. "They are so small and fragile. We nearly lost Aiko already!"

"But we didn't loose her," Cuddy insisted hugging House a little tighter. "You saved her; you were able to diagnose the Blastomycosis and treat her in time."

"Yeah, that time," House was determined to sink into pessimism.

"Most kids survive to adulthood," Cuddy was equally determined to stop him. "And they don't have a family practically swarming with doctors. Sure, you cannot give guarantees in life, but I think our kids are pretty well set."

"I'm not so sure," House mused, though not quite as pessimistically. "Having doctors in the family will help only so far. They need things not related to their health, too. And I don't know if I have it to give."

"What do you mean," Cuddy wanted to know. She hoped she could help him put his doubts to rest.

"I don't know if I can really help Greer and the others, but especially Greer, grow up to be happy, well-adjusted adults," House shrugged. "I mean, I'm not exactly a happy, well-adjusted adult myself! And if I focus on her, will I neglect the others? How will I make sure that Aiko doesn't suffer with this situation; either through neglect or overcompensation?"

"You do it by not trying to do it all alone," Cuddy informed him sternly. "I'm here; your mother is here, Kasumii, Akira even Grey and Wilson are here. We are all here. That is why this House-hold came together! Sure, we will have a different relationship with each kid, but just because we may feel closer to one of them, does not mean we love the others any less. You have a special bond with Aiko, and I truly believe you will have one with Greer, too. But that does not mean you love Ben or Priya any less. And Ben is already showing preference for me and in time Priya may even choose to bond best with her grandparents. But just because we have different relationships with them all, does not mean we won't be there for them just the same whenever they need us. Or that we will love them any differently. Trust me! We will get it right, with some mistakes on the way, but we will get it right as long as we do this together."

"You sound really sure about this," House observed.

"I am," Cuddy stated. "And so will you be once you have more time with them."

"Which reminds me," House suddenly remembered. "Once I start taking them to work with me, they will be a little too much for Kasumii to handle alone. Weren't we talking about hiring an assistant to her? What happened to that?"

"Oh, yes," Cuddy was suddenly a lot less assertive. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that."

"Why do I have a feeling that I'm not gonna like what comes next?" House wondered.

"Rubbish, of course you will like it," Cuddy replied unconvincingly. "You see, once I go back to work my study will naturally move with me, which frees the blue bedroom. The kids don't need individual rooms for a few years yet, after all."

"Aiko has her own room," House inserted.

"She has for now," Cuddy informed him. "Once the Trips sleep through the night and she won't be disturbed by them anymore, we thought we'd put Greer in Aiko's room and Ben and Priya would share the yellow room. Anyway, the blue room will be free for a couple of years so ..."

"I know this house was originally meant to be a bed and breakfast place, but that does not mean you can turn it into a hotel," House started to grouse as he saw where the conversation was going.

"Now, just listen, ok?" Cuddy tried to pacify him. "Grey has a young cousin who wants to become a Nanny. She really wants to work with children and not as a paediatrician or a teacher but as a trained Nanny. She is now sixteen and wants to go to Norland as soon as she is old enough but her parents think she ought to go to the university and get a higher education. Apparently she does have the brains for it, but that is not what she wants. So Grey thought that if she came here, to help Kasumii, for a year or so she could find out for sure if this is what she wants to do and maybe she could convince her parents that she knows what she is doing."

"And if she can't convince them, then what?" House asked.

"Grey thinks that he could sponsor her, if he is sure she truly wants it," Cuddy said.

"Sixteen," House mused. "I don't know what the school system is in England, but even if she is old enough to leave school isn't she under age? Can she come here without parental permission?"

"We would obviously get the permission," Cuddy pointed out. "I'm sure her parents will agree that if she isn't sure about her vocation then taking care of triplets will most likely scare her off. It would definitely be worth their while to try it. And it's not like they are sending her to strangers. Grey would obviously stand _in loco parentis_ to her."

"So how far are the arrangements by now?" House asked resignedly.

"I would never arrange anything like this without asking you first!" Cuddy exclaimed indignantly. "It's only a plan so far. But we can put the plan in action first thing tomorrow and if all goes well, she should be arriving in three weeks time. Fortunately her mother is American so she has dual citizenship."

"Half this household has dual citizenships!" House snorted, though it really had nothing to do with the subject on hand. He just needed to complain about something. "So why doesn't this cousin stay with her mother's relatives?"

"I believe none of the close relatives are alive anymore," Cuddy thought. "Besides, she's from California, so they would be too far away anyway."

"Ok, I'll talk with Grey tomorrow and if I'm satisfied with his answers you can start implementing your plan," House sighed feeling defeated already. "And I'm taking tomorrow off work, too. Unless somebody decides to get an interesting illness in which case they can call me in."

"Shouldn't you clear that with Sheridan?" Cuddy asked.

"We have an armed truce with Sheridan," House informed her. "I don't bother him if he doesn't bother me. I'll call Wilson in the morning; he is the Dean and needs the information more than Sheridan does. The ducklings will be there to take care of the clinic hours anyway, so Sheridan has no reason to complain."

"Ok then," Cuddy agreed sleepily snuggling down. "I think it will be nice to have you around for a day."

"That's what you say now when you want something from me," House claimed settling better under the covers and getting ready to sleep. "But we'll see how you'll really like it tomorrow."

"Yeah, we will," Cuddy smiled. "Goodnight House."

"Goodnight Lisa," House responded.

------------------------------------------------

Next morning in the kitchen Higa took House a little aside, away from the ladies making breakfast both for adults and the children.

"So am I to understand that you finally got down to some _Cuddyling_ yourself, too?" Higa asked.

"Could be," House answered. "I just don't quite know what it is we're having, Lisa and me. If it's an affair or just an experiment on her part or what. I'm taking it one step at a time."

"Hmmm," Higa thought for a moment. "Your relationship has had me puzzled from the beginning, so you have to muddle through this yourself. Just as long as you respect her?"

"Yeah," House nodded. "I may not always show it very clearly, but I do respect her. Oh, and let Lisa tell Mom about this, ok?"

"If she hasn't realised it herself already," Higa agreed.

"There is that," House noted as he took his coffee and limped back into his flat to get dressed for the day.


	47. Lazy Monday

_Thank you for your reviews, once again. And as a token of my gratitude here's the next chapter ;) _

_---------------------------- _

House helped with the morning routines of the kids. He paid special attention to Greer's reactions and he had to admit that she seemed to become a little more animated when she heard his voice than when the others were speaking. Ben obviously liked Cuddy but Priya's reactions seemed to differ depending on her need. If she was hungry, she didn't care who brought her the bottle as long as she recognised a _here comes the food_ voice – granted they all had a slightly different way of saying it, but with them all it differed from their _time to cuddle_ and _time to change the diaper_ voices and Priya knew them all. Cuddy was probably right, for Priya a servant was a servant was a servant. They would need to pay special attention to her emotional development, especially her ability to feel empathy and sympathy. Social interaction was possibly something that she would need extra training on too. Though it was possible that he was being overly pessimistic; the kids were barely five weeks old!

Aiko was happy to have her Daddy home for the day. She didn't even mind sharing him with her siblings but was quite happy to hold the clean diapers whilst Daddy disposed of the dirty one and got each of the trips ready for the new one. After all, Daddy always told her that she was doing such a good job helping with the care of the babies. She was such a big girl, and clever, too. Daddy said so. She did think that there was something silly going on with MamaLisa and Daddy because they were different with each other than normally. They could be talking to each other just like every day and MamaLisa even yelled at Daddy at one point when he said something about Ben that Aiko couldn't hear but MamaLisa didn't like, but then, suddenly they could stop and just smile at each other. Or sometimes when they weren't paying attention they bumped into each other and they sort of jumped and MamaLisa turned red and Daddy got a funny smile on his face. Fortunately it lasted only the morning and they settled down to being normal by the time Uncle Grey got back from work after noon.

Grey worked only the mornings on most Mondays, so when he got back from work the ladies in the house decided to go shopping and leave the men to mind the kids. There were three of them after all, so they ought to be able to look after four little babies especially as Aiko was the only one of them who could walk. Well, the guys were fine with that. They kissed the ladies goodbye – literally, even House – and took over the house.

When the ladies came back, four hours later, they found House and Grey on the living room floor with the triplets. There was soft jazz music (John Henry Giles, actually) coming from the stereo, the electric fireplace had been turned on and House and Grey were lying near it, both were bare-chested and had diaper-clad babies sleeping on them, skin against skin. House was holding Ben and Greer and Grey had Priya. What surprised the ladies most was that on a recliner near them Dr Higa was also sitting, bare-chested and holding Aiko in his arms. Aiko too was wearing only her diaper and she was sleeping as soundly as her siblings.

As Higa saw the arrivals he lifted a finger to his lips asking for silence: "They just fell asleep," he whispered.

"What are you doing?" Blythe asked quietly.

"Skin baths. Skin to skin contact is very beneficial for the babies," Higa explained. "It helps to calm them down, it promotes both physical and emotional health and is very good method of bonding for child and parent."

"And they like music, too," Kasumii supported the statement. "House has been doing this with Aiko quite often before."

"Yes, he has," Higa nodded. "Now, however, there are four babies all in all, so he couldn't do it alone. Fortunately Grey likes jazz too."

"We better leave you to it then," Cuddy smiled. She thought House looked totally adorable. She supposed that Blythe and Kasumii thought the same about their men – at least their expressions seemed to say so – but she was only interested in House. "Let's go into the kitchen and get some coffee."

"And we need to put the shopping away, too," Kasumii said. "The babies should sleep for about half an hour still at this time, if they keep to their normal schedule, so we still have a moment to ourselves before they need us."

"We can handle them," House stated quietly. "Take your time."

"I know you can," Cuddy smiled at him. "But I only have three weeks or so with them anymore. Then I have to go back to work and can't see them any time I want."

"You'll still see them often enough," House told her. "After all, you spend half of your day in my office yelling at me, so you get to see the kids quite a lot."

"Just so you know," Cuddy gave him a warning glare. "The presence of the kids will not stop me from yelling at you if I think you deserve it."

"Never even crossed my mind," House insisted with an innocent stare as he shifted Greer into a better position in his arm.

Once the ladies had disposed of their shopping and converged in the kitchen they made coffee and sat around the kitchen table.

"You know Blythe," Cuddy mused. "Though David is definitely in best shape of them all, being the youngest and given his job, I think our guys weren't too shabby either."

"No, not shabby at all," Blythe smiled in agreement.

"Of course it was David who made me melt, but I thought your guys looked pretty yummy too, for old men," Kasumii agreed with a twinkle.

"A little less emphasis on that old," Blythe huffed good-humouredly.

"Hey, you're the ones who are too old to do anything but cuddle," Kasumii teased.

"Let me tell you, young lady," Blythe responded with mock haughtiness. "There is cuddling, and then there is cuddling."

"Hear, hear," Cuddy supported Blythe.

"If you say so," Kasumii accepted. "But I have to say this was a very nice homecoming."

"Sometimes life can be really good," Cuddy nodded and the ladies toasted each other with the coffee.

------------------------------------------------

Once the kids woke up from their nap the men put on their shirts, though they were told that it wasn't necessary at all, and then dressed the children. After that the ladies took over so that the men could have their coffee. The rest of the day was leisurely. At five weeks the triplets were too young to do more than eat and sleep (and poop), so cuddling was pretty much the only _play_ they could be involved in. That was ok, though, since there were plenty of people who wanted to cuddle them. Just like there were plenty of volunteers to really play with Aiko, too.

When Blythe was getting ready to make the dinner, everybody gathered into the kitchen – which was fortunately a very large room. And while they waited, the triplets got their dinner – or whatever meal it was for them at that time – from bottles: House fed Priya, Cuddy saw to Greer and Kasumii took care of Ben. Aiko was, again, sitting with her grandfather.

"You were right," House told Cuddy. "Ben and Greer seem to favour you and me."

"Did you doubt my word," Cuddy asked a little huffily.

"Not really," House placated her. "After all, you're the one who has been spending your days with them."

"Children often bond more with one parent," Kasumii said. "You just need to make sure the other parent doesn't end up excluded."

"That was what I was going to say," House agreed. "We must make sure that we don't _divide_ the children too much. I don't mean that we shouldn't take their preference as a real thing, they may be small, but they do know what and who they like. Besides, given Greer's blindness I think we should do whatever she needs us to do to make her feel safe and comfortable, even more than with the other children. And I'm not talking only about when they are babies. But we must make sure they know they have two parents and that they can rely on both of us. Actually, they probably need to understand that relying on you is the better bet."

"You have been perfectly reliable with Aiko," Cuddy insisted. "I'm convinced you will be reliable with the Trips as well. Don't sell yourself short here. I know most adults cannot trust you, but now we are talking about our children and the fact that we are even having this conversation shows that you want to put their needs first and therefore you are reliable."

"Let's hope I can keep it up," House muttered. "But I think Priya is the one we really need to keep an eye on. She may need help in developing her social skills and possibly she has inherited my lack of empathy."

"You have empathy," Kasumii frowned puzzled.

"Only with people I like," House pointed out. "And that's not that many."

"It's true you don't show much empathy," Blythe inserted into the conversation which she – like the rest of the adults in the room had followed though not much participated in. "But you do feel it. It's just that in your work it can get in the way, so you contain it. Like all your emotions. It's not a question of you being unable to feel it, you just ration it."

"That may be a little too optimistic a view of me," House pondered. "But since you're my mother, I don't really dare contradict you. But whatever the case may be with me, Priya might need some help in that department. Though it really is rather early days to worry about that."

"I don't think it is ever too early to worry about your children," Higa smiled. "It is part of the job a parent takes on when he becomes a parent."

"Yes, they are never too young, and never too old for you to worry about them," Blythe agreed sending a teasing look to her son.

"I suppose I will drive them all up the wall," House sighed with resignation.

"Oh, don't worry House," Cuddy told her lightly. "You won't be doing it alone. In fact, I'm fairly sure I will drive them nuts before you can get them up the wall."

Everybody laughed.

------------------------------

Later that evening House helped put the kids to bed. He sat with Aiko in his arms near the cribs where the triplets were sleepily blinking their eyes and sang to them the same Japanese children's song that was Aiko's favourite (though she liked pretty much anything Daddy sung for her, be it a lullaby or Rolling Stones).

"_Ooki na kuri no ki no shita de / anata to watashi / naka yoku asobimashou / ooki na kuri no ki no shita de." _

He hadn't sung it more than twice when all the kids were out for the count. Kasumii took Aiko and carried her to bed, too. House got up and limped out of the room with his cane, leaving his wheelchair inside, ready to be used when he next needed to carry the kids. Outside he met Cuddy, who was sort of hovering in the corridor a little uncertainly. House walked to her and gave her a one-armed hug.

"You look knackered," he told her gently. "Go to bed. Your own."

"Are you..." Cuddy didn't quite know how to express her thoughts. "I mean, have you..., I ..."

"Shut up Cuddy," House smiled at her. "I thought we were **friends** even if with benefits."

"That is what I said," Cuddy agreed though she wasn't sure what House meant.

"So don't go all teen-ager on me," House told her. "Don't behave like I was telling you that _if you love me you'll have sex with me_. First of all, we're too old for that. Second of all: I really am not as young as I used to be and for you to expect me to _perform_ every night is not very_ friendly_, you know. You told me not to tell you what I think you want to hear, unless I really mean it. In return I expect that you come to me only when you want to, not when you think that I expect it. If I think it's been too long and I want to break into the kids' college fund, I'll let you know and you can have first refusal."

"Promise?" Cuddy asked in a small voice.

"Cross my heart," House answered solemnly. "We're old friends, not new lovers. Let's not play games. Not with this. Because if we screw this up, it's the kids that will suffer."

"I know," Cuddy nodded. "It's just still rather new all this. I have never before really lived in the same house with the man I'm sleeping with. Can you imagine! At my age. I'm not quite sure how things are supposed to happen now that you won't wine and dine me first. When there are no dates that have a clear agenda. This is all new."

"I haven't been here before, either," House pointed out. "But as you said, if we are honest with each other, we'll muddle through, somehow. There will be times when you'd like to have sex and I'll refuse either because my leg hurts too much or for some other reason. And there may be times when you need company but no sex, and that will be ok, too. We'll figure this out. I don't know how long this will last, but somehow we'll make this work for as long as it does. But right now, you need sleep. Go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

"I suppose you're right," Cuddy accepted. "And anyway, right or wrong, here we are. Thanks for understanding and Goodnight."

"Goodnight Cuddy," House said. "And don't let the bedbugs bite your ass. That's my privilege."

---------------------------------

_The words for the song are:_ _Under the big chestnut tree / you and me / are playing happily / under the big chestnut tree_


	48. Priorities

House arrived at work at his normal late hour and he run into Nurse Brenda almost as soon as he set his foot inside the building. The clinic was full of patients and House was the only one who either wasn't in the clinic already or didn't have an urgent patient waiting for him.

"Get your butt to the clinic, now," Brenda insisted. She sounded almost like Cuddy which made House grin. Brenda eyed him suspiciously and asked: "What?"

House didn't say anything at first he just bent towards Brenda and kissed her full on the lips. The action was so unexpected that Nurse Brenda didn't even react to it. She just dropped the files in her hands and stared House with wide eyes. House straightened up, grinned even wider and said: "Sorry, I was just feeling all warmed up." Then he sauntered to the lifts and towards his own office.

Brenda stood rooted to the spot trying to understand what had just happened. "All warmed up?" she repeated to herself and suddenly she, too, grinned from ear to ear. She had remembered the House-warming gift she and the other nurses had given to Dr Cuddy. Obviously Dr Cuddy had decided to use it and apparently to a very good effect! Brenda turned to go back to the clinic and realised that it was still full and she was – still – a doctor short. She stopped smiling. Drat the man!

House was still grinning as he got to his office. He disposed of his bag and then went next door to get his first mug of coffee. As he walked in he found his team sitting at the table perusing a file and Wilson was standing next to them. On the white board there was a list of symptoms.

"Who has touched my markers," House demanded. "Oh, wait, I know that handwriting. Can't read it, but I know it."

"Don't try House," Wilson told him. "I happen to know for a fact that you can read my handwriting. Unfortunately you can read it even upside down."

"What is unfortunate about that?" House wondered. "There is many a piece of interesting information I would have missed were I not able to do that."

"Yeah, and each one of them has been none of your business," Wilson pointed out.

"But they were still interesting," House insisted insouciantly.

"As is this case," Wilson brought the conversation back to the relevant point.

"Abdominal pain, swallowing difficulties, enlarged lymph nodes, arrhythmia, fever," House read the symptoms. "Looks like an infection of some kind."

"Yeah, but what kind," Wilson demanded. "Finding out is your job now."

"Since when have you been my boss," House complained.

"Since Cuddy went on maternity leave, as you well know," Wilson reminded him. "Besides, this gets you off clinic duty, so I don't know what you're complaining about."

"Fine," House sighed taking up a marker. "So, any ideas team?"

"He has had a few tests done already," Chase said looking at the file. "If any of them are correct, it could be a parasite: Leishmaniasis, Malaria even. The problem is that we cannot find any way he could have been exposed – and yes, we did ask about sexual partners, too. And we did it when the wife was not present."

"You have been busy," House noted. "Since he is a guy, I think we can trust him as far as his sexual escapades go. Men seldom lie about sex if their lives depend on the answers. Women may want to rather die than hurt their loved ones. That of course means that our guy may not know everything about his sexual partners, so let's not completely discount anything. Anything else come to mind?"

"Toxoplasmosis, Myocarditis," Petra shrugged. "Even Esophagitis."

"That's two opinions, then," House accepted. "We just need the opinions from Dr Cameron and everybody has had a say."

"He could have some coronary artery anomaly and the infection causing the fever could be secondary symptom," Cameron said. "Though I agree with Chase, we should look for a parasite. Some parasites don't cause problems until years later, so he may not even remember the circumstances of the exposure."

"Ok, you have alternatives," House nodded. "Go, test! Especially try for any and every parasite you can think of. And be quick, before the arrhythmia becomes worse and kills him."

"If we test for everything you want," Petra informed House. "It will take probably at least 24 hours to get it all done. And that's with us all three working on it."

"Better hop to it, then," House shrugged. "You know what they say: Arbeit macht frei."

All but House observed how an icy silence descended over Petra. She stopped dead and turned to glare at House: "I would appreciate it, if you refrained from being flip about Concentration camps."

"Fair enough," House nodded almost making Chase and Cameron dislocate their jaws. Wilson, however, sat down and buried his head in his hands. House turned to face Petra. "I'll keep it in mind should I ever desire your appreciation. Now, can we go on trying to save this patient or was there something else, personal and irrelevant you wanted to share?"

"My great-grandmother is a Holocaust survivor," Petra informed him tightly.

"Good for her," House responded heartily. He paused to muse for a moment and then went on: "I wonder if she ever met my mother's Uncle Jozef."

"Her uncle was in a concentration camp?" Petra was suddenly feeling almost ashamed. Maybe flip remarks were just House's way of dealing with that part of his family history.

"I suppose you could say so, in a way," House inferred. "Obersturmführer Jozef Van Husen worked for the Gestapo. I believe at one point his duties did include inspecting the Concentration Camps."

A stunned silence followed that announcement. Chase and Cameron turned to look at Wilson who was still holding his head and shaking it at the same time. Obviously none of this was news to him, though that still didn't mean that House actually had an uncle Jozef. Petra, however, was staring at House only.

"You descend from a Nazi?" The question was full of loathing.

"You need to pay better attention," House admonished her. "We don't descend from our uncles. Unless there are some very twisted skeletons in the family closet, that is."

"Ok, so you don't descend from him," Petra wasn't feeling very forgiving. "But you do share his blood."

"True," House accepted. "That I do." He was watching Petra like she was an interesting specimen under a microscope.

"Are you expecting me to just go on working like I didn't know you come from a Nazi family?" Petra asked indignantly as House didn't explain anything else.

"Are you a doctor?" House asked her.

"Yes, I am a doctor," Petra snapped. "You know perfectly well I am a doctor."

"Then yes, I do expect you to go on working on our patient," House announced unconcernedly. "Our dying patient, I might stress."

"You can't really expect me to work for you anymore!" Petra was flabbergasted.

"Fine I'll accept your resignation. You can work your two weeks notice in the clinic. In fact you can go there right now," House ordered briefly. "They could use some help and our patient certainly doesn't need a doctor who puts her itsy-bitsy feelings before the care of a patient."

Petra glared at House. Chase and Cameron were standing at the door observing the scene. They didn't really know what House was up to now, but they deemed it better to stay out of it. There was no knowing what might make it worse. Wilson was almost moaning in distress, but he still didn't lift his head. He knew trying to curb House when he had the bit between his teeth was useless. Petra tossed her hair.

"Fine, I'll go to the clinic," Petra huffed. "But you might tell your minions to test for _Trypanosoma cruzi_ too, if they are testing for parasites. It's possible to get that from blood transfusion as we don't test for it since it's so rare."

"Chagas disease," House nodded. "Very good. It's common enough in South- and Central America, and there are cases every now and then among the Latin population."

"Well, that's it then," Petra said tightly and stormed out of the room.

"House," Wilson finally lifted his head. "Did you really have to do that?"

"Does your mother really have an uncle who was a Nazi?" Chase wanted to know.

"Yes, she did," House answered. "Uncle Jozef is dead by now, and that is all you need to know. Go, do the tests. And don't forget the tests for Chagas."

Cameron apparently wanted to say something but Chase pulled her out of the room with him. Wilson shook his head at House exasperated.

"You just have to push, don't you," Wilson stated.

"I just wanted to see her reaction," House shrugged. "And I have to say, it was fairly good."

"You can't throw something like that at people just to see their reactions," Wilson complained.

"Why not?" House asked. "I did it to you."

"Yeah, but I already knew you better then than Dr Gilmar does now," Wilson insisted.

"But this isn't about her reaction to me," House explained. "This is about her reaction to an unexpected piece of information and how that affects her ability to care for a patient."

"And what good did that do?" Wilson nearly shouted. "What does it matter that you know how she reacts to something like that when you just fired her?"

"It satisfied my curiosity," House suggested.

"You..." Wilson threw his arms in the air and stormed out of the room, too.

-----------------------------

House was in his office playing a game when Cameron walked in. She had a sheet of paper with her. House got an immediate sense of déjà vu.

"I need your signature on this recommendation," Cameron said as she gave the paper to House.

House took a pen and signed: "I heard there is an opening in the Penn. Applying for it?"

"How did you know?" Cameron wondered.

"You always do," House pointed out. "Especially when I have done something to upset you."

"This has nothing to do with you," Cameron denied. "Other than you told us to find new jobs."

"So you're perfectly ok with Uncle Jozef?" House doubted.

"None of my business," Cameron replied – lying blatantly. "But if you want to talk about it..."

"No, I don't," House stated and turned back to his game. Cameron hovered in place for a moment so House looked up again and asked: "Was there anything else?"

"No," Cameron shook her head. "Nothing." And she walked out.

That, however, was not the end of interruptions for House. Cameron had barely had time to get back to the lab where they were running the tests when Petra walked into House's office. She, too, was holding a piece of paper.

"Your resignation letter, I presume," House observed.

"Yes," Petra responded biting her lip. "But before I hand it to you, I need to ask you something."

"Ask away," House invited. "I'm not giving any promises about answering, but then that doesn't mean you can't ask. And since you're about to leave my employ I cannot really order you about anymore, can I?"

"I can accept your position that nothing should get in the way of patient care," Petra was obviously finding it difficult to talk about the subject. "Should I find some unsavoury fact about my patient, I would need to set my feelings about it aside and still give my best to the patient's care. Ideally I would, of course, refer him to another doctor, but that is not always possible. However, a patient is someone I deal with for only a short time. You are someone I need to associate every day, all day. Before I decide to hand in my resignation, I need to know more about your Uncle Jozef. I need to know ... I need to know how you feel about him."

"Sorry, I left my feelings in my other pants," House replied. Then he sighed and put away his game. "I never met him, I never knew him; he died before I was born. He is as abstract and irrelevant to me as his brother, Gerben Van Husen. I never met Uncle Gerben either. He was shot by the Germans for hiding Jews and helping them escape from the Netherlands to Sweden. They are ancient family history. Just names in my Grandmother's memory. There is nothing personal about them to me."

"Then why did you tell me about him?" Petra was totally lost.

"To see how you react," House said. "And you reacted pretty well. Even when you were huffing and puffing with indignation, you still came up with a possible diagnosis. Well done."

"You do understand that I hate you," Petra stated calmly.

"I don't care," House shrugged. "Hate me as much as you want as long as you don't let that get in the way of your work and as long as you do what I tell you to do."

"So why should I stay?" Petra wondered.

"Because I can teach you to be a better doctor," House asserted.

"There are others who can do that," Petra pointed out.

"Yes, there are," House accepted. "Only they will not push you to your full potential. Only with me will you find out how good a doctor you really can be."

"Modesty is really not one of your shortcomings," Petra announced almost bitterly.

"Modesty does not come into this," House said. "I know what I know. I know myself and what I can do. Nobody is served well by my denying my skills and knowledge. Sure, it would be easier for people's egos if I pretended to be lucky instead of brilliant. But my business is not to save people's egos, but their lives. So, are you in or out?"

"I'm in," Petra vowed. "And I promise I will not let my dislike of you get in the way either of my care for the patient or my career."

"Fine," House nodded. "I'll stand warned."

---------------------------

When House got home that evening Cuddy was waiting for him.

"What were you thinking," She demanded. "Why did you make Dr Gilmar resign?"

"She didn't," House placated Cuddy. "She is still working for me. She just hates me now."

"Oh, I'm so relieved," Cuddy scorned. "Why would you go out of your way to make her hate you!"

"Well, now that you and I are an item, I couldn't run the risk of her falling for me that way Cameron did," House explained with wide-eyed innocence.

"You really are impossible," Cuddy sighed. "You will give me a full account of it all tonight."

"In person or over the walkie-talkies?" House asked hopefully.

"In person," Cuddy responded, though there was still some belligerence in her voice. "But you better make it good."

"Which one?" House leered. "The account or the _in person_?"

"Both," Cuddy told him. "Because you really need all the help you can get to make me accept this one. Now, come along, your kids want to say hello to Daddy."

"In the kitchen?" House asked as he followed Cuddy.

"As always," Cuddy smiled back.


	49. Recruiting

Having greeted the kids, helped Cuddy and Kasumii feed the trips, entertained Aiko while she waited for Kasumii to get her food and then fed the said food to her, House took Aiko into his flat. He had a phone call to make and he figured Aiko might be of help there. Eric answered almost immediately.

"Is everything alright?" were the first words out of Foreman's mouth.

"Yes," House replied. "And I'm impressed that you would have my number still on your speed dial."

"I did consider deleting it," Foreman wasn't happy. "But then I thought that I'll still need it for Aiko's sake."

"Well, Aiko's here and wants to have a word with her uncle Eric," House told him and put Aiko on the phone. He tried hard not to listen to Foreman going all mushy on his phone – he figured he would need to wipe it clean of all the sugar and spice once the call was over. Aiko knew her Uncle Eric's voice and babbled into the phone with earnest enthusiasm. She looked cute enough to make even House smile. After a few minutes House said: "Ok, Aiko, say bye-bye to Uncle Eric, Daddy needs to talk to him." Aiko did as asked and House took over the conversation again. "Cameron is leaving me next," he told Foreman as he set Aiko down on the couch with some toys she promptly started handing to him and then taking back.

"I know," Foreman replied. "I even know what finally pushed her into seriously applying for a position elsewhere."

"I should have known," House sighed ruefully. "She must have emailed you pages and pages of outrage over my latest show of insensitivity and political in-correctness."

"I have to say making fun of the Holocaust is probably the lowest you have gone," Foreman said.

"_Arbeit macht frei_ is the name of a novel by Lorenz Diefenbach published in 1872," House pointed out. "Is it right to avoid speaking of it just because the Nazis liked it? I mean, Hitler liked Wagner but nobody's boycotting _Der Ring des Nibelungen_. Well, except Israel."

"Fine, whatever you say," Foreman gave up. He would never understand House and his idea of humour. "You didn't call to discuss Cameron's reasons for leaving did you?"

"No," House acknowledged. "That would be too much like trying to get in touch with my feelings _(Foreman could practically hear him shudder)._ No. What I want is for you to help me get her replacement."

"Surely you're not suggesting that instead of taking the position as the future Head of Neurology at PPTH I should return to you?" Foreman wasn't sure what to think since that definitely was something House could do, but would he? After all, he was the one who had told them to leave in the first place.

"No, I've got all from you that you can give," House dismissed the idea.

"Or want to give," Foreman was beginning to wonder why he didn't just hang up on House. Only he would probably call back and keep on calling till he got what he wanted.

"I understand there is a Dr S. Chandrakanta working for Marty," House pronounced _Marty_ with the usual derision.

"Siva, yes," Foreman agreed cautiously.

"Siva?" House scorned. "Is that what you call her?"

"It's her nickname," Foreman shrugged. "Marty has always called her that."

"Of course he has," House scorned. "Him being such a friendly fellow; though I'm not so sure that it's very friendly to give someone a nickname just because you're too lazy to learn her real name. And to be called Siva, of all things! You do know that Siva is a male deity in Hinduism?"

"But her name is really difficult," Foreman pointed out. "And had she objected to the nickname surely she would have said so."

"I doubt that," House thought back to the interview he had had with Dr S. Chandrakanta two years before when she had originally tried to become Cameron's replacement. She had been the epitome of traditional Indian upbringing where you didn't say _boo_ to an authority figure, especially a male one. It was rather surprising that she had actually even become a doctor in the first place and, if her file had been anything to go by, a very good one to boot. "Though I suppose Chandrakanta is a rather difficult name to pronounce so she is used to having it changed. It's not like she works with people who have spent years to learn to say difficult words like, I don't know, _Psychoneuroimmunology_ or _Neurodegenarative_ or _Typomastigote_."

"I think we could manage Chandrakanta," Foreman explained a little patronisingly though he had to pronounce the name very carefully to get it right. "But Marty wants to call people by their first name and the one that the S stands for is more difficult than her last name."

"But Sivaramakrishnan which is what the S stands for is the last name. It's a patronymic," House patronised back. "She comes from South India. They don't have last names there, mostly just patronymics which are added to the front of the personal name and almost invariably shortened to just one letter. I'm surprised nobody in Marty's friendly practice has bothered to find that out. All they needed to do was ask Dr Chandrakanta."

Foreman was quiet for a moment, swearing in his mind. House had taught him to get the facts for himself, and he hadn't. He had taken Marty's word for it. Ok, it wasn't about a patient, but having worked side by side with Chandrakanta for over a month now he should have at least checked. He had also forgotten that House spoke Hindi. So much for trying to patronise his old boss. He sighed. "Ok, now that we have got that out of the way," Foreman ground through his teeth. "Could you get to the point of this call?"

"Dr Chandrakanta applied for a fellowship with me two years ago," House got serious. "The first time Cameron left. At that time I was determined to get Cameron back, so I didn't take the interviews seriously. However, the situation has changed and based on what I saw of her three years ago, I want her. And you will deliver."

"How," Foreman laughed. "Am I supposed to paint her a rosy picture of working for you? I can't do that; I'm not that good a liar. Besides you just want her for her secretarial skills."

"How do you know she has those?" House asked curiously. "Or do I even need to ask? Good old Marty is already treating her as his secretary."

"Not secretary, he has one already, a Personal Assistant, maybe. And he is at least polite about it," Foreman cursed himself silently (again) for forgetting how much House knew and could deduce from tiniest clues. "You wouldn't even thank her."

"Of course not," House scorned. "If I thanked her it would mean I actually care if my mail gets sorted and the consultation requests get answered. I didn't give the job to Cameron when she started with me; she chose to do it. If Chandrakanta doesn't want to do it, then nobody's making her."

"But you will make her do everything else," Foreman stated. "You'll use her as a drudge, just like all your fellows."

"Exactly," House totally deflected the criticism. "Just like all my fellows. And she will learn more than she ever will with Marty. She is stagnating right now both as a doctor and in her career. She needs a kick and you know nobody kicks like me."

"She's happy here," Foreman tried to say. "Not all are that ambitious. You're not. She probably wouldn't even be interested in working for you now."

"She was two years ago," House reminded him. "And nobody is so un-ambitious as to turn down the most prestigious fellowship in the country. Tell her she starts on Monday."

"What?" Foreman was gasping with so many things he couldn't even analyze them. "Am I supposed to just walk to her and say something like: remember that interview with House you had two years ago. He has finally decided to hire you. You start on Monday, go home and pack?"

"Short, blunt, to the point," House itemised. "Yeah, sounds good to me."

"And how am I going to make her believe me in the first place?" Foreman wanted to know. "Anyone with half a brain would think I was joking, and believe me she has more than half a brain."

"You obviously tell her to call me," House said. "Sure, I could just call her myself, out of the blue, but you know me. I rather let someone else do the sweet talking for me. Besides, she might decide it's a prank call if she has no warning first."

"She has a contract with Marty," Foreman tried to stall for more time. "She cannot just _start on Monday_."

"Once you tell her of my offer what is the first thing she will do?" House queried.

"She will go to Marty to ask for his opinion," Foreman replied a little puzzled.

"And how will Marty react?" House asked.

"He will tell her to do as she thinks is best," Foreman sighed. "And he will do it in a way that will make her think she has insulted him mortally and that he never wants to see her again. Of course, he just wants to guilt her into staying, but that won't work with Si-Chandrakanta. She takes these things too deeply and since she will need to start moving immediately if she wants to be in PPTH by Monday, Marty won't have time to do anything to correct his mistake. I can't do this for you, House. You'll crush her."

"Maybe," House didn't sound too worried. "And maybe I'll make her stronger. However, you will tell her that she has till Monday to get the fellowship. You know how that would affect her career. You don't need to lie but you will tell her. And then she will make up her own mind about it."

"If, and that is a big if, I do tell her about your offer," Foreman knew he could really not not-tell her about it. The opportunity was once-in-a-lifetime kind. "I will also tell her exactly what accepting it would mean."

"Fair enough," House accepted. "By the way, how is she at making coffee?"

"Even better than Cameron," Foreman revealed. "Why?"

"I don't think I better let Gilmar make the coffee anymore, not if I'm going to drink it," House mused ruefully before just hanging up on Foreman. He turned to Aiko who had crawled to rest against his thigh some time ago and fallen asleep. "I think I need to get you to your own bed now."

--------------------------------------

Late that night – after having done his best to get her into a good and forgiving mood – House and Cuddy cuddled up in House's bed.

"What were you thinking," Cuddy wanted to know. "Your reputation is bad enough; you really don't need people believing that you don't take the Holocaust seriously."

"I don't care what people think," House shrugged.

"Do you care what I think?" Cuddy asked.

"Yeah. You matter," House acknowledged.

"So why did you do it? Only to test Dr Gilmar?" Cuddy wanted to know.

"Pretty much," House said. "I might have chosen some other way, but this sort of presented itself."

"So tell me about Uncle Jozef," Cuddy invited. "I didn't want to ask your Mother."

"You could have," House shrugged again. "We neither one of us ever met him, so we feel no inherited guilt. Nor do we think we have inherited any credit from Uncle Gerben."

"Uncle Gerben?" Cuddy hadn't heard of him.

"Right, I only told Gilmar about him," House remembered. "Gerben was Jozef's brother. A priest in a small coastal village. He tried to find ways to smuggle Jews out of the country to Sweden or England over the sea. He was shot for it during the German occupation."

"Oh, I suppose you could say one brother cancels the other," Cuddy mused.

"I seriously doubt that Gerben managed to save as many as Jozef destroyed," House pointed out.

"How did Jozef become a Nazi," Cuddy wondered. "Wasn't he Dutch?"

"Yes, but he went to Germany to study in the university of Heidelberg," House explained. "He married a German girl, got citizenship and joined the _Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei_ in 1930 something. He was tall, blond and had startlingly blue eyes so he was a very welcome poster boy for them."

"Do you know how his family reacted to that?" Cuddy probed.

"By the time Jozef joined the Nazi party Grandmother was already married and living in the States," House told her. "So she didn't know what the initial reaction was, but by 1939 at least, her father had disowned Jozef. Not that it really mattered apparently, since Jozef didn't come back home again. He died in Königsberg – or Kaliningrad as it is now called - in 1945."

"Your grandmother told you all this?" Cuddy asked.

"Oma? Yes, she did," House nodded. "She didn't think it needed hiding. In fact she believed that I needed to know – that everyone needs to know – how people from the same family could take very different paths. She never did believe this _never again_ mantra that people started after the War. And she was right. People have created the Holocaust over and over again since then; they just haven't used that name. Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia you name it. It's still _homo homini lupus._"

"Man is a wolf to man," Cuddy translated. "It's not the Holocaust you trivialize is it? It's the hypocrisy surrounding it that makes you sneer. You know the evil it was, but you see the same evil happening still, even if maybe in a smaller scale."

"Except when it happens in a larger scale, like Darfur," House sighed. "Mind you, I may scorn it, but I'm not exactly out there trying to battle for a better world."

"True," Cuddy agreed snuggling closer and getting ready to sleep. "But in a way you battle it right here, in Princeton-Plainsborough Teaching Hospital. One patient at a time. And you teach other doctors to do the same."

"Yeah, that reminds me..." House looked down and saw that Cuddy was nearly asleep already. "Never mind, you can yell at me tomorrow," he finished in a whisper.


	50. Adding to the Household

House, Cuddy, and Blythe were in the kitchen waiting for Grey and Kasumii to arrive with Grey's cousin Perri. As soon as House had agreed to having her, Cuddy had put things in motion and in the predicted three weeks everything had been arranged, parental permission included.

The three weeks since their conversation – and incidentally the beginning of the new phase in their relationship – had gone surprisingly fast and painlessly. Cuddy visited House two, three times a week and on those nights they weren't together they still often talked on the walkie-talkies. Though mostly about the kids, things concerning the house and the House-hold that they hadn't been able to talk about during the day; not much dirty talking at all. Cuddy had wondered about that once, but House had just shrugged and said that he preferred to lower expectations, not to raise them. Cuddy had kept her own council on that.

At work Petra had used a week to glare at House, even when it turned out that she had been right about the Chagas disease, but she had simmered down eventually. House suspected she had talked with Wilson and had thus gained some perspective to things. After all, it was a little difficult to suspect a man of Nazi sympathies when his best – and only – friend was a Jew. The second week after the near-resignation Dr Chandrakanta had arrived to take Cameron's place – not that Cameron had left yet, she had still had a week before starting her new job. Foreman had called Cuddy to tell her that Chandrakanta had accepted House's offer. He had also asked Cuddy to keep an eye on the new doctor, since he didn't trust House. Cuddy had assured him that should House be too impossible she would find some other position for Dr Chandrakanta in the hospital.

Surprisingly, though, House had been almost gentle with his new fellow. Chase – who had been told on the pain of death not to sleep with his co-workers – had been surprised enough at this strange behaviour on House's part to actually ask what was going on.

"Contrary to popular belief," House had informed him. "I do not crush people who can be crushed. I'm not yet sure that Chandrakanta can handle me and my ways, so she is still under observation. If she turns out to be too fragile, you can have her."

"Have her?" Chase didn't understand House's pronouncement at all.

"Yes," House informed him looking at him like he ought to know what was going on, then he made a face and said: "Oh, yes, I forgot, you don't know yet. The board only just approved Cuddy's motion."

"What motion?" Chase was still in the dark.

"She wants to expand the department of Diagnostics," House explained. "There will be a second team with you in charge. You get Wilson's new office, once he moves back to his old one. Of course, you don't get a conference room, but the office is big enough for you and your team. If Chandrakanta can't work with me, she'll be perfect for you."

"What if I have other plans?" Chase asked partly flattered partly indignant. House and Cuddy had arranged his future without so much as by your leave!

"Do you?" House asked, knowing full well that he didn't.

"No," Chase admitted. "I was going to take some time off and review my options. I know there is an opening in the NICU here in a month's time. I was sort of thinking that if nothing else comes up I'll try for that."

"Well, something has come up," House said. "Of course if you don't want it, just say so. I'm sure there will be plenty of applicants for the position once it's announced."

"I... It's..." Chase had been unable to come up with anything sensible to say.

"Think about it," House told him. "Just remember, you cannot hire Cameron."

"Why not?" Chase was suddenly able to speak.

"Because she needs to get away from me," House acknowledged ruefully. "And I'm fairly sure it would be better for her to have some distance from you, too. At least for a while."

"So if I accept what then?" Chase wanted to know.

"Then you start looking for a team," House stated. "There will be plenty of applications, not only because this is still my department, though you will head an independent team, but you will also garner some interest as your father's son. You can sort the male applicants on your own, or with Wilson. I'm hiring my third fellow from the girls, so we'll interview them together."

"You want an all-female team?" Chase was awed. "What's the deal with that? Are you aiming for House's Angels or something?"

"More like a House's Harem," House leered. "Better alliteration."

"Don't you have enough women at home?" Chase asked.

"Yeah, but with the possible exception of the new Nanny's assistant that is on her way, I don't get to order them about," House revealed.

"What will Dr Cuddy say to this _harem_ of yours," Chase cautioned.

"She'll have no problem with it as long as I remember that the root word for _harem_ means _forbidden_," House pointed out.

"Fair enough," Chase agreed.

Cameron had briefed Chandrakanta well before her own departure to Penn and House had his mail sorted and his coffee ready without any break in the routine. He was happy to find out that Foreman had been right about the coffee: Chandrakanta really did make better coffee than Cameron. Most of the time he almost had to make a special effort to even find her in the room; she could blend into her surroundings like a chameleon. House suspected it had been drilled into her as a child with all the other things that a properly brought up Indian girl needed to know. He rather thought he could find use for that talent if he decided to keep her. They had had only one patient since Chandrakanta had joined the team, and even that House had taken on more to observe his new fellow than to diagnose the patient. It had been a fairly simple case of Encephalitis. She had participated in the Differential as a full member of the team, though she always agreed with anything House said. That didn't bother House, since he was used to it from Chase and Petra was there to disagree with pretty much anything he said – which she did vehemently. House wasn't quite sure yet, but he rather suspected that Chandrakanta would stay in his team and Chase would need to get all his team himself.

Now House was standing in his kitchen – or in the main kitchen of his house – waiting for Perri Grey to arrive and start helping Kasumii with the kids. He had been a little surprised that her parents had agreed to let her come to the states for two years, even if she was going to have a cousin looking after her and even if she was going to take night classes to finish her education. But Grey had said that though her parents did love their kid, they were more career orientated than Grey really thought was good for Perri. Grey thought she was a little lost and he was hoping to help with that.

House didn't get any further with his musings before the sounds told him that the trio had arrived. Kasumii was the first one to enter the kitchen and she gave House a pleading look mouthing the words: "please give her a break" to him. That was not very reassuring but did prepare him for the arrival of the girl herself. Morticia Adams meet Pink was House's first thought. Perri was dressed all in black. She had black jeans that rode low enough to make one almost question if she had reached puberty yet. Her t-shirt had been cut short, so it just covered her breasts. She did have a coat on her arm when she arrived so at least she had enough brains to protect herself against the elements. She set the – black – coat down on a chair. She had piercings on her navel, her lip, her nose and her eyebrow, and naturally she had six earrings on each ear. House was relieved to see that they were just normal earrings, none of those thick ones that actually mutilate the ear. Her hair was long and black, except for pink and purple stripes, it hung straight to her waist. Her face was covered in make-up, black lipstick, black mascara – and lots of it – black eye-shadow and almost white foundation. Yet under all this bold _I don't care_ facade there seemed to be something very young and uncertain – something very teenage. House sighed.

Grey saw House raise an eyebrow at him and he sent an apologetic look back. He had seen his cousin over a year ago and hadn't realised how bad things had got until he had seen Perri again. He was hoping House would not just dismiss Perri as trouble and send her back. Grey was sure that underneath all that black there was still the same little cousin he knew. He saw House sigh and set his mug on the kitchen counter. Then House shrugged his shirt off, revealing the red t-shirt he had under it. House turned to rummage in the kitchen drawers, found a clean towel, wet it under the tap and then he limped to Perri. He took a good, solid grip of Perri's neck and washed her face with the towel.

House lifted the towel away from the face in front of him and met Perri's indignant stare: "I like to see who I'm talking to," he stated calmly. "The mascara you have to remove yourself, it seems to be waterproof."

"How..." Perri tried to talk but House put the towel back on her face to wipe off the rest of the make-up.

"My house, my rules," House informed her. "If you don't like them... Planes fly to England every day." House saw a flash of something in the teenager's eyes. Not exactly fear, but something a little akin to it. Maybe more loneliness and some defeat. "Here, button it up, all the way," House held his shirt to Perri expecting her to put her arms through the sleeves. Once she complied House rolled the sleeves up and took a look at her hands: long, black nails: "Those talons won't get anywhere near my kids. Lose the polish and cut the nails." He took a closer look at the hands. "In fact, you may need some advice in hand-care to start with. Kasumii will take you shopping tomorrow. You need clothes that you can wear for work. She will choose them. Your current outfit is not suitable. She will also take you to have your nails done. Kasumii, make sure they also advice her on how to take care of her hands. (_Sure, Kasumii promised_). You will not wear any makeup and you need to lose the piercings too. You won't like it if Aiko gets her hands in one of them and yanks. And you most definitely will not like what will happen if she or one of the trips swallows any of them after they have yanked. You may wear one pair of earrings when you're not working and the one in you navel you may keep as well since it will be under your clothes at all times. The hair is cool, though you have to braid it for work. Any tattoos?"

"One," Perri didn't think not answering or lying was an option. Her new boss almost scared her, though he had been pretty gentle with that towel. Also it was oddly reassuring to have an adult to take charge like this. At least it was on some level, on another it was infuriating: like she was a kid or something. "In my butt."

"That's ok," House accepted. "You won't be showing it to anyone anyway, unless there is a medical reason in which case you will show it to Dr Cuddy. And that, by the way, was not an optimistic assumption on my part. It was an order. You. Will. Not. Show your butt to anyone while you live under my roof. Clear?"

Perri nodded though a little rebelliously, but she didn't want to go back to England. At home she might be able to do what she wanted, but she was also horribly lonely. She wasn't going home on the first plane, no way. Maybe later, but not yet.

"Are you a virgin," was the next personal question which elicited audible protests from Kasumii, Cuddy and Blythe (House! Gregory!). Perri blushed from head to toe.

"Who the hell would want me," she muttered almost under her breath.

"No swearing," House admonished her. "There is room for only one person who is crude, rude and socially unacceptable in this house and that's me. No other vacancies. As for guys wanting you, you have a pulse don't you? For most guys that is all they need. Teenage boys are a lot less picky than you believe. Losing your virginity is not the problem. Losing it so that you won't feel like shit for days afterwards is the difficult thing. You need to learn to be picky. You have that right. Anyway, you won't be dating any time soon. You'll be too busy with work and classes. Any questions?"

"None," Perri felt her head was whirling. She was sure she had questions if only she could remember them!

"Good," House accepted. "My mother will show you to your room and she will help you to unpack. If none of your clothes are suitable for wearing in this house, she, too, will take you shopping for clothes that you will then wear when not dressed for work. And that reminds me, you will not give her any lip under any circumstances. Ever. Dr Cuddy is the mother of the children and you may try to give her some lip if you feel brave, but let me tell you, she can cut you to size with half a sentence if she wants to. You can give some lip to me, if you really feel like you cannot contain yourself, and if it's amusing I may forgive you. But no matter what, you will always, always do as you're told. Clear? You are now working with my children and that is a position of trust even if you will take all your instructions from Miss Tanaka. The children's wellbeing comes first, always. You understand that?"

"Yes, sir," Perri voiced, not very clearly but still perfectly audibly. House chose to take that as a promise, too.

"Come along dear," Blythe decided to take the teenager to her room before House came up with any more outrageous questions or instructions. "He really isn't that bad once you get to know him _(oh yes I am_) and the rest of the House-hold you will get along with just fine. Your room is rather bare right now, just the basics, but if you don't have enough personal things to make it your own, we can go shopping and get what you want."

Once Perri and Blythe – and Kasumii who followed them, had got out of the room House turned to face Grey: "You do know that from this day forward I **so** own your ass!"

"Yeah, I do know," Grey grimaced. "I'm sorry. I didn't know things had gone that far with her. I'm sure she is ok and she has always adored kids, but it seems that her parents are paying even less attention to her than I thought."

"Actually, I agree with you," House sighed as he picked up his mug again. "She looks pretty much like a standard, confused teenager. Too much freedom, not enough boundaries, and low self-esteem due to neglect. Parents may love her, but she doesn't know that."

"I think I may have my work cut out for me," Grey agreed ruefully.

"You're not alone with her," House reassured him. "The ladies will be happy to help you."

"What about you?" Grey queried. House had certainly taken over quite impressively just now.

"I'm her boss," House pointed out. "That is my main role. But if I can help, I'll help. Don't count on my ability to help too much, though."

"Every little thing helps," Grey responded turning to follow the women to Perri's room. Once his back was to House, he did, however, smile. Widely.


	51. Peregrine

_Thank you for your reviews, they have – once again – inflated my ego quite nicely, thank you ;)_

_--------------------_

When Perri came downstairs some time later she had changed her clothes, but was still wearing House's shirt. Apparently none of her clothes were suitable for wearing in the house. She had removed the last of her makeup, all the earrings and other body-jewellery, and though her nails were still long, they were polish-free. She stood at the foot of the stairs biting her lip – reminding House a little of Cuddy – trying to decide if she could, or wanted to, join the people in the living room. House didn't give her a choice. He beckoned her over.

House was at the piano playing something or other to entertain the kids. The Trips were sleeping in a fairly big crib that had room for them all and Aiko was playing with toys on the floor, though every now and then she took a toy and brought it to one of the adults. Dr Higa had joined the crowd and he and Blythe were sitting side by side reading a Japanese newspaper (Higa was helping Blythe to refresh her scant knowledge of the language). Cuddy was in an armchair reading a medical journal and Grey and Kasumii were on one of the couches talking – apparently about Perri, since they stopped when she came in. Having beckoned Perri to him, House turned away from the piano and took a good look at the teenager standing before him.

"Well, what do you know, she is actually human," House mused. "And not that bad looking either. At least you won't scare the kids now." Perri made a small face but didn't comment. Right then Aiko came over to her Daddy dragging Mr Panda with her. She was now just big enough to be able to tote the toy around – when she really wanted to. She stopped when she reached her Daddy's legs but she turned to look at Perri with curiosity. House smiled at her and then gave a considering look to Mr Panda and then he looked back at Perri: "Though, I have to admit, that I may have been a little hasty when I removed your makeup. Now that I think of it, your resemblance to Mr Panda was quite startling. Had I left it alone, you would probably have made instant friends with Aiko."

"I can go back and re-apply," Perri offered a little tartly but before House could say anything to that, Aiko took matters into her hands. She beamed at Perri and lifted the hand that was dragging Mr Panda, clearly offering the toy as a welcome gift to this new person in her house.

"Looks like she is quite happy to accept you as you are," House noted. "Take the toy, thank her and then give it back."

Perri did as instructed and was rewarded with even wider smile from Aiko, who was showing all her teeth (though there weren't that many of them yet), with her smile. She accepted Mr Panda back and turned to take it to her Grandfather next.

"I know your room is a bit bare still," House told Perri. "We moved Cuddy's office back to the hospital only yesterday and since we weren't sure how much stuff you were bringing with you, the ladies thought it safe to just have the essentials there and you can fill in what is missing later. When are the rest of your things arriving, do you know?"

"Rest of my things?" Perri was a little puzzled.

"Yeah," House nodded. "Don't tell me that you came all the way from England to spend two years here and all you have with you is two suitcases and a carry-all?"

"Well, yeah," Perri shrugged feeling a little stupid.

"Your parents aren't sending things like your books or your old toys, favourite chair anything to you?" House wanted to be sure he had understood what Perri was saying. He also noticed that Grey was shamelessly listening in on the conversation with a concerned look on his face.

"They didn't say anything," Perri tried to behave like it was nothing. "I didn't even think to ask."

"Ask?" House repeated. "It shouldn't have been necessary for you to ask." House gave a huffing sigh. He looked Perri up and down and couldn't understand how anyone could see her as anything but a child. "So how old were you when your parents first decided you were old enough to cope without their constant input?"

"I guess you could say seven," Perri shrugged touching one of her earrings. "At least that's when Cora went back to work full-time and Allan went after his next promotion."

"And they left you alone," House said neutrally.

"We had a live-in housekeeper," Perri defended her home.

"And how long did she last?" House asked.

"Till I went to boarding school at eleven," Perri replied, touching another one of her earrings.

"Interesting," House narrowed his eyes at her gesture. "And that is when you turned into Hermione Granger? At least judging by your grades."

"I suppose," Perri shrugged again.

"You keep shrugging like that you're going to dislocate your shoulder," House pointed out. "Good thing that the room is full of doctors. So, if your first earrings are for your parents abandoning you and another pair is for them sending you away from your home, what are the others for? I am assuming that most of your piercings are less than fourteen months old since that is when Grey saw you last."

"Nothing, it's just what everybody does," Perri didn't shrug but she did bite her lip again.

"It's alright," Blythe had come over to Perri and she put her arms around the distressed teenager. "We want to know because we care. You are part of our family now. And we take care of family. It's ok."

"No, it's not what everybody does," House denied. "At least not in the circles you move. But I'm guessing that the first three pairs are mementos of something, but the rest of them... You discovered how pain releases endorphins. You're not cutting yourself, are you?" House was clearly worried, which surprised Cuddy, who had abandoned her journal as was standing next to Perri with Blythe. Not that she didn't know that House could worry he just usually didn't show it. She glanced at Grey who had joined them, too. Kasumii and Higa stood back – entertaining Aiko – and just observed.

"No, I don't," Perri stated quietly.

"Good," House relaxed a little. "It's not all that it's cracked up to be. But you have been thinking about it, right?" Perri nodded. House shook his head. "That's why you have the piercings. You took them to get the pain but in a relatively risk-free way, while you pondered on your choices. How did you get your parents to consent, though? I'm sure you need parental permission to have something like that done?"

"I got it," Perri started to shrug but remembered House's remark about the dislocated shoulder and stopped in mid-action. "I told Cora that the other girls were having things like that done and she didn't want to be _un-cool_ mother, so she signed the forms. Same for the tattoo."

"Yeah, the tattoo," House smiled. "How did they do that? Did they use and extra long needle or is there some special equipment that makes it possible to locate them _in_ your butt?" Perri looked down on the floor and blushed a little. "Yeah, I caught that one. Unlike your parents I don't feel the need to be your friend and give you the benefit of the doubt. The schools you have been to would never give you straight As if you didn't know your grammar. But don't worry, I found it amusing enough to forgive you. I did say some lip is tolerated under those circumstances."

"Yeah, you did, but I'm sorry anyway," Perri muttered. She wasn't really sure she wanted to apologize to House, but Blythe was there and she had been so nice and welcoming – almost like a Grandmother, or what Perri had always thought a grandmother would be like – that she didn't want to appear sullen in front of her. Judging by the small smile House had on his lips he understood her situation perfectly. He seemed to understand a lot of things, which was odd, given how blunt and – well he had said it best – _rude, crude and socially unacceptable_ he was.

"Apology accepted," House stated magnanimously. "Though I'm curious why did you not start cutting yourself? Most teenagers don't think of the risk, or they find it adds extra thrill to it all."

"There was a girl in my school last year," Perri explained. "She used to do it, and then once she cut too deep. She nearly died. It caused a huge uproar. Her mother quit her job and they had family counselling and all."

"And you weren't yet ready to find out if your mother cared enough to do the same?" House asked gently. Perri gave the tiniest of nods but it was enough to make Blythe hug her tightly and Grey to put his arm around her as well.

"Well, I have good news and bad news for you," House stated lifting Aiko up to stand on his knees. She had left her grandfather and had come over to see why so many adults were converging around her Daddy. "This is the first one: Aiko may be little, but she is full of love. She loves everybody in her family unconditionally and totally. You are now part of that family so you have one person at least who accepts you for who you are, unconditionally and without any questions." Aiko smiled at Perri and reached up with her arms: she wanted to get a closer look at her new family-member and the best way was to get picked up by her. "Go on," House gave his permission. "You can pick her up, just mind the nails." Perri took Aiko carefully into her arms and lifted her up. Aiko promptly started to explore her face and hair. House smiled but continued his statement. "The bad news is that I don't really care what your life has been like before. You are now part of my House-hold and you do as you're told. The bright side of that is that we really do look after our own."

"And I'm here, too," Grey reminded Perri. "You're my favourite cousin, the kid sister I never got. You're not alone. Even your parents really love you they are just too stupid to know how to make you feel it. But I'm not stupid. Nor is anyone else in this House-hold. You're one of us, now. You belong!"

"But I still don't know how they did that tattoo," House whined deciding that the atmosphere needed to lighten up a little.

"The normal way since it's here," Perri put her hand on the side of her upper left thigh.

"At least tell me it's something morbid like a skull and crossbones?" House demanded.

"Sorry, it's some kind of a falcon," Perri gave him a small smile. "I saw the picture and just wanted it. The bird is descending, probably to attack something since the talons are extended and it just looked cool. The tattooist said that she thought it was an appropriate choice for me, I don't know why, but she thought so. She said what type of falcon it is, but I'm not normally into birds so I don't remember."

"Appropriate huh?" House pondered on it for a second. "Was it a Peregrine?"

"Yes, something like that I'm sure," Perri frowned in concentration.

"Falco Peregrinus the migrating falcon," House ruminated. "Peregrine is used as a name, too and Perri used to be the short form of it until it gained a status on its own. Very appropriate, I would say. And I think it will turn out to be a good thing for us all that you migrated here. We'll work it all out, somehow."

----------------------------------

Later on Grey found House in the kitchen drinking coffee.

"Thank you," Grey stated simply. "It would have taken me ages to get that much out of her. Some of it I already knew but I failed to make the connections and see how badly they had already managed to damage her. You always forget that neglect can damage you as much as abuse. Thank you for getting all that out in the open."

"No problem," House shrugged off the thanks. "The surgeons may take pride in their skills with the scalpel but sometimes, when you want to crack something open, a blunt instrument is the best tool for it."

"And they don't come much blunter than you," Grey acknowledged.

"We do our best with what we have," House indicated. "You might want to ask if Cecil has time to see her. If she wants to, of course."

"I will definitely suggest therapy," Grey agreed. "She needs someone neutral to help her deal with all the emotions that she has suppressed."

"You might want to recruit my Mother for that mission," House suggested. "She seems to have adopted Perri already. And since she is seeing Cecil herself, she can definitely talk from a position of knowledge."

"Ok, thanks for the suggestion," Grey thanked him again. "And after what you did today, you don't own just my ass, you can ask for my first-born as well."

"Thanks, but no thanks," House declined the offer. "I'm up to my ears in kids already. I definitely don't need any more."

----------------------------

Even later that night in House's flat, Cuddy got in and found House in the bedroom. He wasn't getting into bed yet he was standing at the closet looking for something. When Cuddy walked in he turned to look at her. She was fully dressed, too, but she didn't start taking off her clothes. She just walked right up to House, put her arms around him and kissed him. Long and hard. Then she hugged him, rested her head on his shoulder and said:

"I'm so glad that you are the father of my children."


	52. Little things

_Thank you once again for the lovely reviews :)_

_------------------------------------------------------_

House was sitting in his office at the end of the week. He was reflecting – once again – on the irony of life. Usually when he applied his diagnostic skills and curiosity to the private lives of people he got yelled at (and often sued). When he had done it with Perri, not only did he get thanked by Grey – the girl's guardian – he also got rewarded by Cuddy (and that still put a smile on his face! talk about wow!). Maybe he could learn this parenting thing after all. Perri had certainly been in a lighter mood since all the stuff had been got out into the open and still nobody had judged her. The women had totally adopted her and the next day shopping expedition had lasted over five hours, with a complete beauty-treatment thrown in as well, not just the hand-thing, manicure or whatever it was called. Cuddy had stopped back at the house after a little over three hours (that was when Kasumii was choosing Perri's working clothes) to fill the bottles for the Trips and to inform the men that all the women were going to the beauty-salon.

When the ladies had returned Perri had actually been smiling. She was wearing black jeans (normal waist, not the low one her previous ones had had), a pink t-shirt and a purple cardigan. It turned out that pink and purple were her favourite colours but the black look had been partly a reflection of her mood and partly an attempt to get a reaction from her mother (nice try, no cigar!). Now that she was feeling more accepted, more a real part of a family she didn't need that much black, though she still liked it, just not so much of it. As soon as they had got in, Perri had come over to House to show her hands. The nails were short and though there was some nail-polish on them, it was almost colourless giving only the slightest pink hue to the nails. House decided to approve. He was also forced (Blythe, Cuddy and Kasumii ganged up on him with glares) to approve the use of mascara and lip-gloss when Perri was not working. The ladies explained to him that she would stand out among other kids her age if she had no makeup at all. Grudgingly he gave in and was rewarded with a big smile from Perri.

House had to shake his head at the pretty much over-night change in the teenager. Not that he thought her saved yet, she was bound to have bouts of depression and moodiness; first of all she was still a teenager and secondly parental neglect was not something you just shrugged off. But Blythe and Grey had talked with Perri and she had agreed to see Cecil; in fact the first meeting had taken place on Thursday with both Blythe and Grey attending it with her. Cecil had made sure that all understood that though Perri was definitely responding well to the change in her environment, the actual healing would happen in baby-steps. Well, since most of the people in the family were doctors, Cecil didn't need to be very heavy-handed in getting that message across.

Baby-steps or not, Perri was still obviously thriving in her new family. She was immediately considered as the big-sister for the babies, and now that she was being treated as a child, it was obvious that some of the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. She did take part in the decisions concerning her (except when it came to her job of helping with the children, then it was House who said what was what), but Grey took his position as her guardian seriously and he made the final decisions about where she was going to school, what and how many classes she was taking and other things like that. She was starting the night school next month and was quite looking forward to it and seeing how things in the States differed from the UK.

And Grey had been right: Perri adored kids. She was interested in everything about them and she was happy to do anything Kasumii asked her to do. She paid attention and learned most things the first time they were explained or shown to her. Though she was practically never alone with the kids – as indeed nobody was since there were four of them – she was clearly taking her duties seriously and responsibly. Apparently she knew herself well enough to know what she really wanted to do for a living. Kasumii was of the opinion that she would make a great Nanny once she was old enough and had had her training. Too bad she couldn't keep her hair, though. Norland had very strict rules about the appearances of their Nannies. Of course, that was still at least two years away, so Perri could keep her stripes for quite some time still.

This had been Cuddy's first week at work, too. Her return was felt all over the hospital. Sheridan had been ok for the short term – once he got it through his head that that was all he was going to be – and Cuddy had made sure that all knew she was coming back, so nobody had really been slacking. But now that she was back and the decisive click of her heels could be heard in the corridors everyone was looking sharp. They knew that they would not get away with anything when Dr Cuddy was in charge. They had, for a moment, thought that having kids might have softened her, but that thought had been thoroughly demolished on her first day by lunch time. The only one, who didn't change with Cuddy back, was House. But he had his kids with him, so he was in a good mood and everybody sighed in relief. The routine of taking care of four kids was not quite the same as it had been with Aiko, but Kasumii was nothing if not efficient and with Perri's help, things were under control by Tuesday. Cuddy visited House's office regularly – even when she didn't need to yell at House - as the kids still got breast-milk and she had to "do the delivery" regularly (she usually did that in the maternity ward where it was easiest and then brought the bottles to House's office and the second fridge there).

The first time Cuddy had brought the milk over House had been changing a diaper (Perri and Kasumii had their hands full with the other kids) and when he saw Cuddy and the bottles he had said to his son (who was the one getting his diaper changed).

"Look, it's the Dairy Maid!"

"Shut up House," Cuddy had told him mildly. "You are not funny."

"Would it have been funny had I said _here comes the cow_?" House had asked facetiously.

"No!" that answer came from all the women, not just Cuddy. House had a feeling it was a good thing Gilmar and Chandrakanta hadn't been there as well or he might have busted an eardrum.

"Ok, if you have to be that way," House whined and then went on to complain to his son: "I don't understand what it is about being around kids that just kills any sense of humour women have. Now if you ever have kids, Ben, remember that. Women have no sense of humour at all."

He had earned a real barrage of glares for that one, even from Perri, who was still a little wary of him, feeling her way under his authority; though she had already learned that she could defy him a little, as long as none of it involved the kids. House was actually quite happy to let Perri test things, because he didn't want to break her spirit (it had received enough of a battering from her parents already), she just needed to find her place in the House-hold and learn to be a kid again. She would be responsible for herself quite soon enough as it was. Two years wasn't that long a time.

House looked out of his office to the other side of the corridor. Chase's new office was there. He had got his team – all male since he claimed that he needed the protection to ward of the wafts of oestrogen that were coming from House's Harem (they had never told anyone about that conversation but even so, House's new team was dubbed by the hospital staff just that: House's Harem) – and they were busy taking care of House's rejects, which was most of the cases House got consultation requests for. House hadn't had any cases that week, which was sort of ok, since the first two days had gone in interviews for the third _harem maiden_ and once she was found she needed to get to know the rest of the team and adjust to the unique environment that was the Department of Diagnostics combined with House's Nursery.

Quanda Washington was the third woman in House's new team. She was African-American – or black, as House insisted (he wasn't going to use a hyphenated mouthful when there was a short, succinct word that said exactly the same thing). Her mother was a teacher and her father a lawyer, they both were the first people in their families to go to college and education was important for them both. Quanda had learned their work-ethic and values and had applied herself to her studies with single-minded earnestness that was still very characteristic to her. She didn't have street-smarts, her home was middle-class professional, but she was tenacious, she paid attention to details – though sometimes that meant that she wanted all the Ts crossed and Is dotted quite literally, which annoyed House – and that was the quality House wanted. She was also a genuine tee-totaller, a fact that just a year ago would have made it pointless for House to hire her, since she wouldn't have lasted a week.

So there they were, his team, his Harem. Quanda Washington, Otolaryngologist; second speciality: internal medicine. Petra Gilmar, Dermatologist; second speciality: gastroenterology. S. Chandrakanta, Pediatrician; second speciality (and the thing that had peaked House's interest and got her the fellowship) forensic pathology (and the story behind that one was the one House really wanted).

House was well into his musing – and his video game – when Petra opened the door between his office and the conference room.

"We have a case," Petra informed House quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping Trips.

"Do we now," House asked a little sarcastically.

"Apparently she is the grandmother of an important donor," Petra revealed. "Dr Cuddy insisted."

"Ah, then we do have a case," House agreed and got up from his chair. He walked into the conference room and Kasumii and Perri, who had just come back from a stroll with Aiko, went into his office to look after the Trips. Aiko stayed with her Daddy and the team. House sat down on a chair and started to divest Aiko from her coat and boots and other outdoor clothing she didn't need inside. "Ok, talk to me and Gilmar, you can write on the board. But only what I tell you to write, don't go creative."

"The patient is a 60 year old female and she came to us because of renal failure," Gilmar explained writing the symptoms on the white board after receiving a nod for each of them from House. "She has been treated for cardiac arrhythmia for the last month but her doctor could not find any reason for it. Or so he said, personally I think the large bottle of Gin she consumes every day might have something to do with that. But in addition to the renal failure which made her family bring her in, she also has a rash, nausea, abdominal pain and she is peeing blood."

"Sounds like there might be something wrong with her kidneys, too, not just heart," House observed as he got the last of Aiko's outdoor clothes off her and was able to set her on the floor near her toys. He stood up and took the marker from Gilmar. "Anything else?"

"Hypotension," Washington added as she read the file and patient history that Gilmar had gathered before coming to House. "That might explain the dizziness she has had for a few weeks, but it could also be a different symptom as she has also had repeated headaches."

"More like repeated hangovers," Gilmar pointed out.

"If she consumes a large bottle of gin every day, she probably won't have time to have a hangover," House decided. "Not unless she just empties it at one go first thing in the morning."

"I suspect she takes her first portion in her morning orange juice and then keeps on mixing it to whatever it is she drinks during the day," Chandrakanta shrugged. "Her social class and her age suggest that she is used to that kind of drinking. She probably hasn't even realised she is an alcoholic, or at least didn't realise it for a long time, as the amount of gin has just gradually increased over a period of time. Probably took a while for the family to catch on, too."

"So she is sixty?" House wanted confirmation. "Where does she work?"

"Nowhere," Gilmar said. "She has never worked. She used to chair some charities but for the last seven or so years she has stayed home."

"Drinking I presume?" House concluded.

"Yes," Washington responded still reading the history. "What are G&Ts?"

"Gin and tonics," Gilmar dismissed. "I already told you that she drinks a bottle of gin every day."

"With tonic?" House was suddenly alert.

"How many?" Chandrakanta was also intent on something.

"This says she drinks about twenty G&Ts a day," Washington read from the patient history.

"Why didn't you mention the tonic, Petra?" Chandrakanta asked puzzled.

"What would be the point? If she is drinking gin and tonic it's not the tonic water that will ruin her health," Gilmar insisted.

"You're a moron," House told her pithily. "You don't leave anything out. I'm the one who decides what is relevant and what is not. Not you. You tell me everything because you don't have the brains to know what is relevant and what is not."

"And how exactly could tonic water cause all these symptoms our patient is having," Gilmar huffed. "It's a soft drink!"

"Chandrakanta, explain it to the white chick," House invited capping his marker and setting it down.

"I'm Jewish," Gilmar ground from between her teeth.

"**Half**-jewish," House stipulated. "And it sure as h... (_House looked down and saw Aiko watching her Daddy with a frown_) blazes isn't the dominant half. Chandrakanta, your patient. Assess the damage, treat and discharge." House walked into his office with Aiko by his side leaving his team to sort the patient out.

"Ok, what is it?" Gilmar turned to Chandrakanta.

"The patient is suffering from cinchonism," Chandrakanta explained gently. "Tonic water has quinine in it though nowhere near enough to cause problems normally. It was developed to be a health drink in the tropics but you need to drink ten G&Ts a day to get enough quinine to prevent malaria, and then the gin will definitely be the unhealthy part. However, our patient has drunk twice that amount of tonic, every day for a long time. She has cumulative cinchonism and indeed, it is the tonic water in the G&T that has ruined her health. I have to go and find out how badly."

"I hate House," Gilmar said with feeling. "Damn him!"

"No swearing, Gilmar," House called from his office. "There are children in here."


	53. Happy birthday, Little Love

_Thank you for your reviews - one comment on them, though I wrote the African-American vs. Black comment in narrative and not dialogue, I meant it as something that House had said to Dr Washington when he referred to her as black, probably during her interview. What his private thoughts about things like that are - who knows! I didn't feel brave enough to challenge the canon that far. Though I suppose by now this story is pretty OOC and AU anyway, so why so shy? Don't know. :)_

_All in all, thank you all for staying with this story this far, but this is the end. Cuddy is no longer pregnant, the Trips are safely here, the House-hold has survived its birthing pains and House has a new team and, in a way, new beginning. Time to end **The Pregna**__**nt Days**. There will be a couple-of-chapters-long sequel of sorts, maybe more like an epilogue (The Past Days) in which the adult children think back to a few incidents in their childhood. Other than that, you have to imagine for yourselves how things proceed from here on :)._

-------------------------------

In the evening of the Friday of Cuddy's first week at work she and House were sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee and talking. The rest of the people living in the house were around, occasionally coming into the kitchen for something but mostly House and Cuddy were alone for now.

"So, how was it?" House asked with a smile. "Being back at work again?"

"Amazing," Cuddy nearly laughed. "I felt so alive and energized. I loved being home with the kids, but work gives me such a buzz. Though I suspect the main reason why it was all positive was because I knew I could go and see my children any time of the day."

"You restrained yourself pretty well, though," House complimented her. "You kept pretty much to the schedule we had talked about before hand."

"As I said, it helped knowing that I could come over anytime," Cuddy shrugged. "Also, I knew they were in good hands with you and your _Harem_."

"I didn't name them that," House denied immediately – as indeed he hadn't, not publicly.

"Like you didn't know the others would once it became clear that you had an all female team," Cuddy scoffed. "Besides, there are Kasumii and Perri, too, with the kids. A _seraglio_ if I ever saw one."

"Are you ok with it?" House asked curiously. "The talk, I mean."

"I'm fine," Cuddy dismissed his concerns. "There is always talk, even if you had gone for an all-male team like Chase did, there would still be talk. There is some talk about you and Wilson, even now. You promised me that you would tell me if you wanted to stop being exclusively mine and I trust you to keep that promise."

"I intend to," House confirmed. "It's good that you can ignore the talk. I don't know what will happen between us, but I really try to be honest with you. You will be the first to know, if something happens that affects us. I know my credibility as such, isn't that good, but this involves the kids, so I really am making an extra effort."

"I know," Cuddy assured him. "And no matter what happens, I too will try to make sure the children don't suffer. I am quite aware that the current state of _affairs_ is my doing. I'm a grown woman; I know what I'm doing. Honesty is all I need. Everything else I can deal with but if you lie to me - that will be difficult."

"Well isn't it a good thing that blunt honesty is my speciality," House said – with quite heavy irony.

"Ha, ha," Cuddy responded and took a sip of her coffee. "You do remember that Aiko's birthday is coming up in less than two weeks?" She then reminded House.

"I do," House said frowning a little. "What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" Cuddy asked.

"We haven't celebrated any of the holidays yet, we skipped Christmas and Thanks Giving and even New Year and what not, because you were too exhausted and because we didn't quite know how to celebrate them in this House-hold. We have people from three different countries, at least four different religions, and that was before Perri came along, and now we need to somehow work all the traditions into one that works for us. I mean, we have the tea ceremonies, which are nice and will definitely be important for us in helping Aiko understand her heritage, but we really need to sit down with everyone and decide what we do about holidays. We need to do something with them, unless we want the kids to feel too different from their peers when they go to school and such."

"I know, but for now all we need to worry is a birthday," Cuddy pointed out. "We can definitely fit a tea ceremony into it, but we also need just a fun party."

"Yeah, I suppose we don't really need to make birthdays too complicated," House agreed. "After all, all cultures give presents, so that shouldn't be too difficult for anyone."

They had just come to an agreement that they were going to have a birthday party for Aiko on Sunday the following week, when Blythe and Higa came looking for House.

"We have just decided on Aiko's birthday," House informed them. "Any ideas you have for the party Sunday week, are welcomed."

"Fireworks are traditional for celebrations in Japan," Higa pointed out.

"That would definitely be festive," Cuddy approved.

"I'll try to think of something, too," Blythe smiled. "But there was something we needed to talk about with you Greg."

"Ok, fire away," House invited.

"I need to visit Japan to check up on things like Aiko's inheritance and my house and so on," Higa told House. "I was thinking of leaving about a week after Aiko's birthday."

"Of course," House nodded. "You have been away a good while. Do you know how long it would take?"

"I was thinking a month," Higa suggested. "And that wasn't all."

"I didn't think it was," House smiled. "Otherwise you wouldn't have needed my Mom with you. Out with it!"

"I would like to go with him," Blythe told her son.

"I figured," House wasn't surprised. "Anything you need to make it happen?"

"You can definitely get the time off from work," Cuddy said. "You haven't taken any time off so far and you can use some of your sick-days and we'll figure it out. No problem."

"That wasn't all, though, was it?" House wanted to know. "There is something else afoot. You are way too nervous for this to have been all you want Mom."

"We would like to make it a honeymoon," Higa stated.

"Oh! How wonderful!" Cuddy was excited. "Oh, congratulations! This is great. Oh, I don't even know what to say!"

"Calm down Cuddy," House advised her. "Is this what you really want Mom? You're not thinking that this is something you ought to do as you are having an affair with him anyway? Nor that you fear that you might be alone some day in the future? This is really, what you want, plain and simple? To spend the rest of your life with him?"

"Yes, Greg," Blythe said simply. "This is what I want."

"Then I'm happy for you," House got up and kissed his mother on both cheeks and then he took Higa's hand. "Take care of her."

"Always," Higa vowed.

"So it seems we have to come up with a wedding that works for all first," House turned to Cuddy. "Any ideas? This might be even more difficult than coming up with a Christmas plan for Christians, Jews and Buddhist together."

"We were planning on a civil ceremony," Blythe told House. "We are a little too old for anything elaborate. We will have a simple ceremony before we leave, and once we get to Japan we will have another one that complies with their laws and that's it. No party, no special celebration, just family."

"You're sure?" House asked.

"Really Blythe, I would be happy to help you plan a celebration, if you want," Cuddy offered. "It doesn't have to be a big party, but something to mark the occasion."

"Thank you, but no," Blythe stated firmly. "This is what we want, though we would like for you and Greg to be our witnesses, but that is all."

"If you're sure, then yes," House accepted as did Cuddy.

"Well, what do you know," House said to Cuddy once Higa and Blythe had gone back to the living room. "I'm going to have a step-father. And at my age!"

"You've had him for quite some time, I think," Cuddy pointed out dryly.

"Yeah, I suppose you could say so," House agreed. "Let's get back to planning Aiko's birthday, we have to let the Ducklings know, too, when it is."

----------------------------

Aiko's birthday was sunny and perfect. They started with a tea-ceremony, just within the family. Since there were so many of them, the ceremony wasn't quite correct, but they had decided that it was ok. It was their family and they did things their way. Once the kids were old enough to understand protocol they could divide the participants into two groups but for now, this served their purposes.

In the afternoon all the invited guest arrived. Foreman, Chase and Cameron (sans dates this time) were there, as naturally was Wilson, Miss Hill and House's new team. With the people living in the house they had quite a satisfying crowd there and Aiko certainly was happy to have all the people that belonged into her world in the same place at the same time. Especially since all of them were doing their best to make her feel important. She got new toys, she got lots of hugs and smiles and she got adorable new clothes (though House didn't much care for them, but he supposed that it was a girl thing, all that pink and ruffles). The party part of the birthday was over in an hour, but even after that people stayed in the house. They just divided into smaller groups and just relaxed talking with each other. The babies had their naps and food at the normal times and since Aiko was used to having a lot of people around during the day at House's office, she didn't get too excited though the house was even fuller with people than normally. As soon as it got dark enough to see, Higa set up the fireworks and everybody went outside to watch. Only when the last spark on the sky had died, did people start leaving for their own homes.

Eric had stayed the night before in the house, but now he was leaving for LA, since he still had some time left in his contract there. But he was feeling good about coming back here. It was going to be ok. Cameron had been a little apprehensive about coming back to see House celebrate Aiko's birthday with Cuddy, but she had realised that it was ok. She was happy for House, and Cuddy and she was ready to go on with her own life now – though she was still going to keep in touch with the House-hold. She hadn't resigned her membership in that. Chase was happy with his life. He felt he could actually start thinking of dating with serious intentions now. He would keep his eyes open, who knew, love might be waiting just round the corner.

The family settled down once the guests had left. The ladies did some cleaning, though the cleaners were coming the next day and the crowd had been very orderly; not much need to clean after them. There was some desultory conversation, general feeling of happiness and contentment when everybody went about the evening routines: cleaning up, taking care of the children, getting ready to retire for the night.

Cuddy was thinking happily back to the day when she was getting ready for bed in her room. She hummed to herself as she removed her makeup and applied lotions and night cream to her face and hands. It had been a good day. Suddenly there was a knock on her door. It puzzled her, since she was sure Blythe, who was pretty much the only one who came into her room, had definitely retired for the night. Maybe it was Kasumii; hopefully there was nothing wrong with the kids! Cuddy went to the door and opened it to find House on the other side.

House was standing at Cuddy's door a little awkwardly. He didn't know quite were to look because looking at Cuddy made him feel exposed, somehow very vulnerable. Which was ridiculous, since Cuddy loved him and would never do anything to hurt him. But it was still awkward.

"House?" Cuddy was puzzled at finding him at her door. "Is everything ok? The children?"

"Yeah, yeah, they're fine," House muttered. "Nothing wrong with them. This is not about the kids; at least not as such."

"So what is it?" Cuddy didn't feel exactly enlightened.

"I..." House let his eyes wander all over the place but finally he took his courage into his hands and looked at Cuddy. "I've grown accustomed to your face, Cuddy. I like seeing it on the pillow next to me. The idea that it might never be there again, is not one that I like to contemplate. I'm no good at this. I... You have no idea how many times I have already been standing here, behind your door. Actually I'm surprised I haven't worn the carpet threadbare by now. This is the first time I have had the guts to knock and now I don't know what to say!"

"I think you are doing pretty well," Cuddy replied though she was hardly daring to hope this meant what she thought it meant. "Just go on. I'm listening."

"I need you Cuddy," House stated. "I don't know if I love you, I'm not sure I know what love is. And I'm not sure I trust it, even if I know it. But you have become necessary to me. And not just because of the kids, just necessary to me. And I know I will screw this up at some point, though hopefully not totally, but I will hurt you and I will be an ass, but I need you. I'm at ease with you, it's like there is more oxygen in the air or something. You just are necessary. And now I have made you cry. I ... Maybe I just better go..."

"Don't you dare!" Cuddy sniffed. "These are good tears. These are _I'm glad to see you here_ tears. You didn't make me cry cry, this is fine. And you have no idea how happy I am to hear you say those words."

"You're sure?" House asked. "I know you say you love me, but I'm really not an easy person to get into a permanent relationship with. And if I step into your room that is what this will be. That was the deal. I want to do it, but if you need time, if you have second thoughts..."

"Just get in," Cuddy smiled at him. "Step into my parlour."

"Said the spider to the fly," House said with slight rueful flippancy. "So you'll have me?"

"Yeah, have and hold," Cuddy said opening the door wide for him to enter her room.

As Cuddy closed the door, two other doors in the corridor opened a little more and Kasumii and Perri looked at each other with wide smiles and then they air-high-fived each other before closing the doors and returning to their beds knowing that finally, everything was as it should be in this House-hold.


End file.
